#this is technically apart of the other au I made but also not

[donna-medusa-gorgon]

*At a trial trying to figure out if the Gorgon kids can enter Heaven*

Sera: You three sinners-

Emily: Wait, are they sinners?

Sera: They’re from hell, of course they’re sinners

Aria: We were born in hell

Adam: Hellborn, then of course they’re not allowed

Emily: But they’re children of the seraphim Abbadona. Does that make them hellborn?

Sera: Er, well, who is your father children?

Angelo: Some dude named Dragon

Sera: Don’t recognize that name, so I’m assuming it’s a sinner so yes that would make them hellborn-

Aria: He was in some gang called the Mal-branches or something.

Sera: …Malebranche? Was your father Draghignazzo?

Aurora: Yeah that

Emily: So they were born from a seraphim and a fallen angel, wouldn’t that make them technically from Heaven?

Adam: Who cares if their parents use to be angels, Charlie was born from a fallen angel, she’s hellborn.

Emily: Yeah but Abbadona was never suppose to fall, it was an accident so they’re from an angel.

Adam: Still fell! They were born in hell so they are hell born it’s in the name!

Emily: So if an angel was born on Earth it would make them human?

Adam: No! That’s different!

Sera: Alright calm down, look Emily they can’t be Heavenborn because they don’t even have divine blood! Children does your mother bleed gold?

Aurora: Mama doesn’t bleed

Sera: You know what good enough, see-

Aria: But when she cut her snakes for a new haircut yeah they bleed gold

Sera: …

Emily: HA

Adam: THEY ARE STILL HELLBORN

*The trial never went anywhere that day*

[sunderwight]

Modern AU where Shen Yuan accidentally sugar-daddies everyone.

So for the purposes of this, Shen Yuan's family is basically $10 Bananas levels of cluelessly rich. Shen Yuan has almost never had to look at the prices of anything he wants. He and his siblings all get an allowance from the family's main account, which increases when they reach adulthood, and in the interest of fairness his parents made it all the same size. So Shen Yuan gets the same amount of money for his daily living expenses as his older brothers with their penthouse apartments and vacation homes and private jets, at least from the family account (since he doesn't work, he doesn't actually make as much as them in total because they earn more on top of their allowances).

And the thing is, Shen Yuan genuinely just lives a lot more humbly. He likes people but what would he do with a vacation house? Anything really nice would probably require him to fly to get out there, and he gets sick as hell on planes. Living in the central city is also not great for him, because the air pollution is so bad. Having a whole house to himself would also be ridiculous. So he has a reasonable apartment, in a reasonable area, and he splurges every so often on purchases that make him happy and take-out food that he likes, and of course he pays a cleaning service to come in twice a week. Most people assume he's comfortably middle class and has some tech job he does from home, but he's been getting a lot more than he's been spending in his monthly allowances for years now, and the figures are big.

Enter into this environment author Airplane and his trash novels. Novels, multiple, because in this AU there's no PIDW, and instead after some alternate PIDW prototype got popular in the harem genre, Airplane decided to churn out a series of copy-paste shorter stories rather than recycling the same subplots in one massively long epic.

Shen Yuan of course discovers Airplane's writing and becomes as obsessed with it as ever, except this time he notices that if there are delays between new stories, they seem to clear up faster whenever he throws some cash at the problem. And also that the drops in Airplane's writing quality coincide with times when Shen Yuan was having health issues and not keeping up with his VIP purchases. So, he works out that Airplane's probably doing the writing for the money, and that when Peerless Cucumber isn't paying the most for it, Airplane starts listening to the other buffoons in the comment section more to try and entice them to pay his bills instead.

Peerless Cucumber leaves a comment on one of Airplane's latest stories that kicks off the two of them actually chatting, and Shen Yuan eventually gets to the point of offering to fund all Airplane's writing, in exchange for Airplane not doing his crap sellout stuff to appeal to other readers anymore. Airplane thinks he's joking or maybe mocking him. Shen Yuan asks how much it would cost. Airplane fires off a ridiculous number. Shen Yuan doesn't even blink and wires him the first payment. Then he gets annoyed because Airplane leaves him on read for a while, but that's because Airplane is staring at his account balance in shock.

Of course, it's Airplane who starts referring to Peerless Cucumber as his sugar daddy. Shen Yuan is just like "based on your sex scenes I don't think anyone would pay you for that" and Airplane's all "but you WOULD pay for my sex scenes ^_~" and Shen Yuan's like "technically I am actually paying you not to write that shit" and so on. Usual banter. The quality of Airplane's writing improves dramatically, a lot of his readership drops off but he does get new readers and gradually builds up an even bigger fanbase than before, and so on, it all goes pretty well. He eventually writes a few things that take off to the point of getting physical publications and international translations. Technically Airplane no longer needs Shen Yuan to pay all of his bills by that point but he's not going to tell Shen Yuan that! The contract's still good as long as he keeps writing!

Then one of Airplane's online acquaintances runs into some financial trouble and asks for help.

Liu Mingyan used to beta read for Airplane back when he wrote fanfiction (she was like thirteen, Airplane was unaware because internet and hey free beta), and it seems her family has hit a rough patch. She wants tips on how to go pro, but Airplane explains that it was extremely difficult and he mostly lucked out by finding a single wealthy backer. Mingyan wonders if the same guy would be interested in her writing, Airplane sadly thinks not because Mingyan exclusively writes kinky danmei erotica and Peerless Cucumber seems pretty firmly in the closet still and also generally prefers plotty and world-building heavy stuff.

But like, Airplane has definitely gotten a vibe off of Cucumber-bro, and Mingyan's gorgeous older brother does video streams of himself doing cool martial arts and swordsmanship stuff. So he asks her permission and when she gives it, he recommends Liu Qingge's videos to Shen Yuan, being sure to mention that the guy in question can't really afford to keep up with his hobbies and oh what a shame it would be if he had to stop making art like that.

Haha, Airplane, you're not subtle.

Even so, Shen Yuan watches the videos and immediately agrees that Liu Qingge is beauty in motion, and that it would be criminal to deprive the world of more videos of his sword. Swordsmanship! That is the, the art of, martial arts! Definitely. He clicks the donate button, reasoning out that he'll just send a donation about the size of his usual monthly payments to Airplane and call it his good deed for the day.

Liu Qingge is very confused by this new follower from nowhere who suddenly dumped a little over a month's rent into his account. One thing leads to another, with Mingyan and Airplane conspiring to try and get Shen Yuan as a permanent patron, and then Liu Qingge being let in on it. Except that Airplane keeps referring to Shen Yuan as his sugar daddy, and well... it's not like Liu Qingge doesn't ever get 'those' kinds of comments on his videos. At first he's embarrassed, then offended, then mortified that his own younger sister is apparently setting him up to make premium private videos for what he assumes is some old pervert who is going to want him to do untoward things.

However, their options are pretty bleak at the moment, and Liu Qingge worries that if he doesn't do this then Mingyan might. She even mentions something to the effect of having planned to offer herself, and only didn't because she wasn't this "sugar daddy" guy's type!

Teeth clenched, Liu Qingge asks Airplane stiltedly for advice on how to... appeal, to this wealthy benefactor.

In the end though it's not nearly as bad as Liu Qingge feared. He winds up doing more videos in costumes and cosplay, which ought to have been an untenable expense, but Peerless Cucumber always ends up covering the cost of whatever he invests in plus extra. Sometimes he sends Liu Qingge stuff with a request to wear it, but so far it's just been like, badass warrior-themed or historical costumes. Nothing overtly pervy. He does some LARPing, he makes enough to start doing horseback archery again, convinces some of his good-looking peers from various clubs to spar with him, and ultimately the most risque videos he ends up doing are the ones where he demonstrates how to put on certain kinds of gear. He still locks those ones behind paid subscribers only, mostly because he feels like he's doing something illicit now, even if he used to show more skin on his older videos any time he took his shirt off.

Peerless Cucumber doesn't leave creepy comments, either. In fact he seems genuinely nice and supportive, it's hard not to like him, and so even once his situation levels out Liu Qingge decides there's not really much need to stop making videos for him. (He maybe even gets a little giddy thrill over... well, sometimes he finds it all a bit... just when he thinks about Peerless Cucumber watching him demonstrate his physical prowess and finding that alone worth... ANYWAY--)

So that goes on for a while, before Yue Qi enters the scene.

Yue Qi is the childhood friend of one of Shen Yuan's older brothers (Shen bros!) and Shen Jiu owes him a big favor for something that he won't talk about. At least he won't talk to Shen Yuan about it. But Yue Qi is also not the type to ask for help, and Shen Jiu is very bad at offering it, so when Shen Jiu gets word that Yue Qi is having some difficulties making ends meet, he tells Shen Yuan to act as the middle man. Go offer Qi-ge money, he knows you're nice he'll just accept it, and then Shen Jiu will pay the actual bill.

Well it turns out that Yue Qi doesn't just accept it, of course he sees right through it, and gently but firmly tells Shen Yuan that he's not interested in burdening Shen Jiu further than he already has. Etc, etc, stoic stiff upper lips and no proper communication all around. Shen Yuan panics because it's not working and he's also genuinely worried about Yue Qi by now, so he tries to figure out how to make it compelling and basically blurts that, well, see, the thing is that sometimes he pays men to entertain him. You know. To like. Do things, for him. So. He could also pay Yue Qi? To do something for him?

Yue Qi gets the wrong idea entirely, and at first is like, oh, no, A'Yuan, you shouldn't be paying people for that! These things should just happen organically! But Shen Yuan is very adamant that he believes in compensating people for what they do for him, it's not like he can't afford to, and it gets awkward but Yue Qi is like well he does have health problems. It's perhaps difficult for him to meet people. So then he starts worrying about Shen Yuan and all these strange men he's apparently paying for "entertainment". Does his brother know about this?

No of course Shen Jiu doesn't know! He'd hate it, and Shen Yuan doesn't want to hear about how he's doing everything wrong with his life again!

Then Shen Yuan mentions that his prior house cleaning service up and quit on him (they didn't), and if Yue Qi would like to earn fair compensation he could just come over sometimes to help instead, and Shen Yuan would pay him just to tidy up and hang out for a few hours! Which Yue Qi thinks is a fantastic idea, actually, even if Shen Yuan is only doing this because of his brother, this will give Yue Qi a chance to keep an eye on him and his so-called entertainers. Even if he sort of... ends up also being one?

Shen Yuan keeps everything above board, though his apartment always seems perfectly clean and he overpays way too much (Shen Jiu is still footing this bill after all), and Yue Qi starts to think maybe he actually is being paid for intimacy. Of a sort that they're maybe still working up to? Shen Yuan usually has a very thin face after all. He's kind of got two minds about this prospect. On the one hand, he's got his situationship with Shen Jiu, so dating his brother would be absurd. But on the other hand, it's not actually dating, and he does like Shen Yuan, and maybe if they can be good company for each other then Yue Qi won't feel so depressed and Shen Yuan won't need to hire strange men so often.

Meanwhile it's come to Shen Yuan's attention, perhaps through an offhand comment he read online somewhere, that people who are struggling financially often also struggle to "treat themselves". Because even when they have enough money to be comfortable there's often the looming specter of deprivation, and etc, so he figures he should start buying some of his dependents more treats and things. Since they might not buy them for themselves? And also he's enjoying doing this but shhh no he isn't, it's a huge hassle, he's only doing it out of basic moral decency, etc.

So like, Airplane starts getting little things that he'd put on some public wish lists, clearly sent by Peerless Cucumber. And he tells Mingyan to make a list for Liu Qingge too, and sure enough, Liu Qingge (bewildered, slightly flustered) tries to figure out what he's supposed to do with an album from a band he likes and some high-end leather polish. Ultimately settles on playing the music and wearing his nicest leather in his next video. Yue Qi starts arriving at Shen Yuan's place to be plied with his favorite coffees and to have scented candles awkwardly foisted onto him (Shen Yuan does not know what Yue Qi likes in gifts) (he buys these presents himself they're not out of Shen Jiu's pocket).

So finally Shen Yuan's parents start to notice that he's been spending a lot more than usual, and start to worry that he's either been taken in by a scam artist or is secretly dating a gold digger or has developed a drug addiction or something. But asking things directly like normal people is basically illegal in the Shen family, so they decide to hire a private investigator.

Enter Luo Binghe, a young man of humble background who is struggling to make ends meet after the untimely death of his adoptive mother, and is using his P.I. job and his online cooking videos to help pay his way through school (scholarship student). Usually his cases are more like, cyberstalking someone to find out if they're cheating on their spouse, or helping someone planning a lawsuit accumulate evidence on their corrupt employer, or other things like that. When he gets the Shen Yuan case, the idea that the Shen family's son is paying for "company" is well within his list of probable answers.

Though this one is a little... peculiar?

Mostly because Binghe can't find evidence of Shen Yuan actually getting what he would, presumably, be paying for. At first Luo Binghe just goes through the online paper trails, using the info that the Shen parents give him to figure out that Shen Yuan is paying Airplane and Swordmaster Liu (*cough*) what seem to be exorbitant prices just for trashy fiction and cosplay videos. He assumes this is a cover, that someone's actually delivering drugs or going over for "private meetings" or at least actually sending dirty videos as well, but even when he pays for Liu Qingge's VIP access it's just tutorials and such. Neither of these guys are even on any of the sites that are more lenient towards hosting explicit content. Luo Binghe's aware that kinks aren't always obviously sexual, but people don't usually pay through the nose for the kind of content they can easily find for free all over the place, either.

He digs a little more but keeps coming up empty on evidence to clarify which of the many vices the Shen family's son is actually indulging in. Which is a problem because that's the information they're paying him to find out. Plus his curiosity kind of piques as he reads Shen Yuan's seemingly quite invested comments on Airplane's writing and Liu Qingge's videos, looking to see if there's any kind of clandestine code or pattern. But near as he can tell, whatever else Shen Yuan might be getting out of these arrangements, he does genuinely like the stories and videos too? Well. Sometimes. Sometimes he's actually scathingly vitriolic towards Airplane's writing.

Luo Binghe decides that surveilling Shen Yuan himself is probably the way to go. That gets more complicated in court cases, but since the Shen parents just wants to know what's going on and aren't planning on prosecuting their son for anything, it doesn't matter as much if Luo Binghe gets information in sneaky or underhanded ways.

So, Binghe uses the account he created to access Liu Qingge's videos to chat with Shen Yuan a few times, and then recommends his own cooking channel. Shen Yuan doesn't seem too interested in cooking, so Luo Binghe makes sure to include a video that has an image of himself in his recommendation, and then films a few new videos of himself cooking with his shirtsleeves rolled up to three quarters and a few more buttons than usual unbuttoned, adopting a more flirty persona than he typically does for his shows. He takes his cues from some of Liu Qingge's more popular videos for how to be enticing bait.

It takes a few videos, but eventually Shen Yuan comments. Luo Binghe latches onto the chance to start talking to him, playing up a persona of a vulnerable young man with little means who is trying hard to make it through school, etc, and sure enough Shen Yuan seems interested. Well, most predatory people like vulnerable targets, don't they?

However... Shen Yuan just sends him a chunk of money.

Luo Binghe is confused.

Isn't he supposed to ask for something or create some kind of expectation of repayment first? But, maybe this is his approach to handling new targets. Maybe he's just trying to lull Binghe into a false sense of complacency, before he starts indicating what he wants from all of this. Luo Binghe makes sure to move the money Shen Yuan sends him into a separate account, so that if the Shen parents get angry about it then he can return it as a gesture of good faith.

But Shen Yuan just keeps sending supportive comments and donations. Eventually he leaves a comment that alludes to how badly he'd like to taste Binghe's cooking, and Binghe is like finally, but when he implies that they could perhaps meet in person and Luo Binghe could thank him for his support by making him something, Shen Yuan backs off.

Things eventually progress to the point where Luo Binghe, who is a totally normal person treating this like a totally normal job still thank you very much, is basically camping out in the bushes in front of Shen Yuan's apartment building. At some point he conscripts the aid of his weird cousin (finding his birth family was how he got into this business initially), and then almost immediately regrets it because Shen Yuan helps get Zhuzhi Lang a job doing landscaping for his building.

Why would he want Zhuzhi Lang close but not Binghe? Binghe is much handsomer! He'd make an excellent target for seduction! >:(

Anyway eventually Yue Qi catches Luo Binghe lurking around like a creeper and is like, finally, I have caught one of these suspicious men, whilst Binghe is like oh so he does have a lover, well this guy sucks and is clearly not good enough for him, and they both try and chase one another off and Shen Yuan comes home to a heated passive-aggressive-politeness war being waged in front of his apartment. Eventually he realizes the misunderstanding and calls everyone together (zoom conference? in-person meet-up?) to clarify that he is not paying any of them for "special favors", that was just Airplane being deranged about his sense of humor, and then he has no idea what to do when the prevailing response seems to be disappointment.

[endearng]

Doomed

Pairing: Spencer Reid x single mom!reader Summary: If you and Spencer had a nickel every time someone teased you after witnessing your interactions, you'd have two nickels, which isn't much — but it's weird that it happened twice. WC: 4.4k Warnings: Mentions of abandonment and I think that's it. Let me know if I missed anything. A/N: HI!!! I'm so obsessed with them... in a normal amount of course. I'm thinking about writing casually for them, who knows... Also,,,, who am I if not a morcia truther….. I hope you enjoy it! Feedbacks are always appreciated <3 neighbor!au masterlist | main masterlist

You were doomed from the moment he bid you goodbye.

"So, who's he?" Victoria inquired, a sly smirk on her face and a bashful expression on yours.

"Who's who?" You asked, trying to feign nonchalance.

She groaned playfully, "You know what I mean."

"I'm afraid I don't." You winked, sitting on your couch again, between the two women. Sex and the City was playing on the TV across from the three of you.

"You're acting like us as freshmen when the seniors looked at us—" she retorted.

"I thought we didn't talk about that," Jude deadpanned.

"You're 'I don't know what you're talking about' me? I thought we were friends!" Victoria poked you in the rib.

"Ouch! He's just a friendly neighbor, that's it." You said, trying to cut the subject. Jude looked at you suspiciously. "White wine time."

From Spencer's apartment, he could hear the sound of chatter, joyful laughter and opening bottles for the rest of the night. He didn't know how to feel by your invitation, now that he had calmed down after looking you in the eye for a moment, technically, all by yourselves. He would definitely feel inappropriate at a kid's birthday where he barely knew the people who invited him, but he thought that Olivia's gesture was amazingly endearing. What could possibly be more childishly adorable than an infant trying to help and making a 'mistake'? And what could possibly be more devastatingly endearing than a mother taking advantage of said mistake to make it right?

Spencer studied the card for a moment. It fit the palm of his hand, tiny and delicate. It had a different address from yours and the time of the party, all of it lovely handwritten, just like the letters from calligraphy practice notebooks. It seemed like Olivia put a lot of effort in trying to perfect her handiwork. It read:

Hey, it's Oli!

I'm turning six and I want to celebrate it with you!

The contents of the slip of paper were adorned by dainty drawings related to birthdays: party hats, cake, gifts, some decoration and so on. It suddenly dawned on him that he was actually becoming closer to the people he always thought lived a perfect life. His mind had a tendency to wander and, for a fleeting moment, he thought about what it would be like to be part of that perfect life.

Olivia was a perfectionist child. He saw the expected behavior of the age in her manners, but the care with her work almost made him think someone else had done it for her. Something told him it wasn't the case, though.

Secured by two magnets, he placed Olivia's birthday party invitation on his fridge. You know, just so he wouldn't forget it — he tried to convince himself.

Everybody knew about his otherworldly memory, but he decided to forget it purposefully.

"Good morning, good ghost. I didn't see you anymore." Olivia greeted as she saw Spencer in front of the elevator. You were just locking your door closed, hyping yourself up for the week ahead of you when you heard it and a shiver ran down your spine. This, whatever it was, was getting out of hand.

"Good morning, Miss Olivia!" He said, a sweet tone of voice. You melted. "It's true. It's been a while. I was here on the weekend, but it seemed like you had other plans." He stuck his hand out for her to shake. She did it in a heartbeat.

"I was with my grandma and grandpa. They took me to the movies and grandpa made me lasagna." She explained as you approached them, adjusting your bag and Olivia's backpack in each of your arms. "Did'ya get my birthday party invitation?"

"Yes, I did! Thank you for inviting me. But, you know, your mother probably needed the rest of them for the other guests." He said as the elevator opened. He gestured for you to enter it first, so you did it with a grateful nod.

"Sorry, mommy. I didn't mean it." Olivia looked at you briefly, ashamed that you would call her out.

"I know, baby, 's okay. Everyone has one now." You assured her with a light tone. Breathe. "Hi, Spencer. Good morning." You said as he joined you in the elevator.

He breathed out, "Good morning. Hi." He had a big smile on his face, standing right next to you, you both facing the door and Olivia in front of you. Internally, he felt like a puppy who had his owners’ undivided attention.

Olivia pressed the button to the lobby. You noticed a book in his hands. Courage. "So, what are you reading, Spencer?"

He gulped. Were you talking to him? It took him a moment to get a grip and realize that he hadn't answered you. Struggling to find the words and suddenly unable to remember what he was actually reading. "Me? I'm just re-reading one of Dostoievski's books. Notes from Underground."

"Dosto-what?" Olivia chipped in.

You looked at her, ready to tell her to not interrupt someone, but couldn't stop yourself from giggling. Spencer watched it fondly. "It's Dostoievski, baby. D'you remember that one book with the 'ugly' cover that mommy was reading the other day?" You asked her, air quoting the word 'ugly'. “It wasn’t ugly. It just wasn’t pink.” You explained it, looking at Spencer. He grinned.

"Yeah. You didn't read to me because it was work." She said, getting distracted with one of her braids.

"Are you a teacher?" He asked, intrigued.

"No. I actually work for a publishing company. Sometimes I have interesting content to revise." You said, a tinge of irony in your voice. He smiled at you, feeling comfortable enough to joke around him without the awkwardness of that first encounter.

The elevator door opened. Olivia jumped out. "I bet it's interesting," was the best he could come up with. Tongue tied.

“Yeah. It’s a good book.”

Like a fucking teenager, he watched as you left with your daughter. Your mixed laughter echoing in the lobby as Olivia spinned around while you carried the weight all by yourself.

He scolded himself for not remembering to offer you help.

Two days later, a few states over, Spencer sat on a chair at the conference room of the precinct they were working with. The case was exhausting and he just wanted it to be over, but it wasn't that simple. He waited for Derek Morgan — he was his ride that night back to the hotel they were crashing on. He was in front of Derek as he and Penelope talked, her image on the computer screen. The man's nonchalant tone was a riddle for her to unsolve — everyone else was aware that there was definitely something between them (an unspoken dictionary worth of words), even if their interactions were deemed as jokes. Penelope, feeling very shy, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at her lap after a particular comment about her smile. As she did so, her eyes caught a glance of her watch. "Oh, shoot. I have to go," she murmured, relieved to have a way out of the exchange that had high chances of turning her into a nervous wreck. "I'm so sorry, handsome! Tomorrow is one of my friend's daughter's birthday."

A flash of disappointment crossed Derek's features. Not that she'd noticed. Instead of pressing her, he chose to say, "Need extra energy to keep up with the kids, babygirl?" Ah, there was it. The teasing tone. She was definitely imagining things.

"Not as much as I need to keep up with you, tiger," she replied with a wink, the dynamic between them quickly shifting back to the usual playful banter. Both of them wanted more than playful and far more than banter, but none of them had the courage to admit it, to be straightforward about it. Spencer understood it, really. Speaking made things too real. "But, seriously. I totally forgot to pick up her gift. Olivia loves reading, so I'll go to the mall. I'm glad I already bought it, so I won't get home late."

If he was a dog, Spencer's ears would have definitely perked up from how quickly he associated one thing to another. Could it be the same Olivia? Your Olivia? "Okay, mama. Be safe." Derek said.

"I will," she smiled as she hung up.

Idiots.

Maybe Derek was too serious about the "no profiling each other" rule they set.

"Let’s go, pretty boy," The dark-skinned agent stated. Spencer got up, grabbed his bag and made his way to the elevator with her.

As they chatted about nothing in particular, walking out of the precinct, he desperately wanted to ask him if she truly didn't see past Penelope's sudden shyness. It wasn't in his nature to do that, of course, but as Derek and Penelope were two of the most important people in his life, he wondered why wouldn't they be a thing by now, since they enjoyed themselves so much and were so open about their affections towards one another.

He was quickly ripped away from his thoughts when the man suddenly spoke up, “So, what's your deal lately, Reid? What's she like?"

The doctor choked on his own saliva, which made him cough like crazy. Derek laughed, but tried to help his panicked friend. "What was that, man?" he asked worriedly, once he saw Spencer had finally inhaled a gulp of air.

Face as red as a tomato, cough dying in his throat, "what was what?" Derek returned to his normal self once he noticed his friend was able to finally form a coherent sentence.

"You're gonna act dumb now that you almost died when I talked about her?" Derek questioned, teasing tone, "it was just a lucky guess, but I see you, Reid. You're daydreaming far too often for what's acceptable for the boy genius who's as focused as a laser beam."

Spencer looked straight ahead as they got to the exit. He should have cornered Derek first. "Why would you think it has anything to do with a 'her'?" He chuckled, nervous to be caught red-handed — even if he wasn't doing anything wrong.

Was it wrong to want? He felt like it was. All his life, really. Had no chance to want anything because either was a far too distant reality, person, happiness for him to grasp it or it was ripped away from him too soon, before he could even acknowledge what was happening inside him. That's why want was almost a foreign sensation for Spencer. He had been deprived of it for as long as he could remember.

"Because people get a little dumb when they're in love. At least, ordinary people do. Apparently, so do geniuses," he snickered, his mind also set on teasing Spencer.

Maybe it was dumb to reveal his secret, jaw dropping crush on his cute neighbor, but he wanted some sort of relief to that mess of tangled thoughts inside his head and the strange, to say the least, feelings brewing on his chest whenever he saw you. You barely knew each other. But he supposed it was yet another part of the want he wasn’t familiar with: it didn't need much and it took all consciousness out the door. It wasn't uncommon for him to feel like his heart was being ripped out of his chest whenever he was on the field, especially since he was often facing danger. The way the events were unfolding were scarily similar to his cases: he noticed you, made up theories based on your behavior and routine, and slowly, oh, so slowly, started to approach you. Not to put you away, but for more personal reasons.

What was different was the feeling in his heart, instead of the sensation of being squeezed painfully inside his ribcage, often leading to ragged breathing, now felt like it was being held delicately by a pair of caring, dainty hands. Either way, his heart was fighting in the frontline and relied on the other part to be calmed and saved. The least he could do was try to be careful, finally opting not saying anything to Derek.

"Just a lot on my mind lately," he chose to say, instead. Derek dropped the subject, too tired to press it further.

Olivia's party had come to an end an hour ago. You got to see old friends and talked until they got every single ounce of information about your life lately and so did you about theirs. Your daughter had enjoyed her party greatly, and hugged every. single. person. who came to wish her happy birthday and thanked them for being there. She paid little attention to the gifts, too focused on spending time with her friends, playing with them until the sugar rush wore off — all of them had a massive candy intake that day. You didn't spend much time with her, but she promised you that she would unwrap her gifts the next morning with you, the most adorable toothless grin on her face.

Despite everything flowing accordingly, all day long, your stomach churned with anticipation. You wondered if Olivia's dad would show up, since the day she was born was, quote, the happiest of his life. His parents did, and when you looked at them anxiously, his mother shot you a neutral glance. Not a word from his end was its meaning. Your daughter never asked anything about him during the day, which made you even more jittery. You feared she would have a breakdown at any time, so you paid extra attention to her.

It never came.

You had missed the deadline of a book chapter that you had to revise, too caught up on trying to balance everything in your life, so your parents told you they'd stay with her so you could go home to work and take her in the morning. Normally, you wouldn't accept it, but your father had decided you were too tired to wake her to go home, so you complied. Right after the guests left, you did all the steps of her night routine, except for the bedtime story — she was that tired of all the running around in the backyard. You were sure she would sleep all night long.

Once she dozed off, you stood for a moment in her grand-bedroom (she had come up with that and it kind of stuck with you). Your parents had decorated it while you were still pregnant. She needs to feel at home, was what your mother said when you walked in on them assembling her crib. You almost cried, overwhelmed with joy. Your fiancé, then, had rolled up his sleeves to help out. Oh, the irony.

Her room was full of photographs that held many memories of her six years of life. You could never imagine that you could love this much, let alone dedicate yourself so entirely to someone like you did for her. Even though it was hard and you often didn't feel like you were enough to raise her on your own, Olivia was a wonderful child and her gestures and overall behavior assured you you were doing a good job. The reflection brought tears to your eyes. You drove home by yourself.

Currently, in your apartment, it felt a little too big without Olivia in there — too many books, too many chairs, too much space on your sofa, too many toys scattered around with nobody to play with them. You sighed, deciding on going to the kitchen to make you a cup of tea — you felt like your brain was hammering inside your skull and you still needed to spend time in front of a computer screen. Going back to your small office to wallow in self pity and second guess yourself even as you read whatever material it was, you heard a knock on the door.

You checked your watch. 9p.m. On a Saturday.

Weird.

Through the peephole, you saw someone you truly weren't expecting. "Spencer?" You asked as you opened the door, surprise filling your being. "I didn't think you'd come, I supposed you were at work. I mean, sometimes it feels like you barely have a routine, heh. But, um, thanks for dropping by." You said, a little unfiltered. Not even five seconds in his presence and you were already making a fool of yourself in front of him.

He held a small bouquet of flowers in one of his hands and a gift in the other. To a stranger's eye, it seemed like he had missed your birthday and was trying to apologize for it. You blushed at the thought. He shut his eyes, sorry crossing his features. "I know. I'm sorry I missed it, even though I really didn't want to. You were right, I was away on a case." You smiled, dismissing his apologies and soothing his worries once you did so.

"It's alright with me. She was totally expecting you, though. Kept asking where you were for the first hour. Then she got distracted with candy," you told him, "so she's the one you're gonna need to apologize to." You joked.

"T—that's why I'm here."

"I'm just not sure if Olivia is old enough to get flowers," you said, face serious. His eyes went wide and it took him a moment to understand, but once he looked at your serious expression cracking, his shoulders shook with laughter, with you. If you had more attention, you'd seen the moment his ears turned red.

Your laughter died down. A beat of silence. "These are actually for you." He revealed.

You were stunned. "Oh," you said, suddenly at a loss of words. "Thank you so much."

He gave you the flowers and you gracefully accepted. You were mesmerized by them; colors swimming in harmony before your eyes and the scent making you feel dizzy. Maybe not the scent, but the emotions you were feeling with the surprise. He went out of his way to get you those flowers — it's safe to say that it had been a while since you felt that way. "I—I have no words, Spencer. Really. Thank you so much," your voice choked.

You looked at each other for a brief moment. You tried to show how much you appreciated his gesture. You grinned, trying to get out of that haze, "Do you want to come in? Oli's with my parents, so you won't be able to apologize today," you quipped, making room for him to enter.

"Yeah, I'd love to."

"You can place the giftbox on the coffee table." He went inside, toeing off his shoes in the small space you had before the living room. Once he was there, he saw you enter the kitchen to find a vase. He could see you from where he stood. "Make yourself at home. Do you want some tea? I have Earl Gray."

Your voice was distant as he took in his surroundings. "Yeah, I'd like it." He murmured as he looked around. Your walls were a light gray, adorned with pictures of you and Olivia, some people he assumed were some of your friends. The wall behind the sofa was entirely covered by a big bookshelf that went from one end to the other, filled with books and souvenirs from basically everywhere. The dark wood of the furniture complemented the light walls in a cozy way, some toys and kids books scattered around the floor. The apartment smelled like fresh printed sheets of paper and earl gray tea. You had a few indoor plants that looked well taken care of. Spencer was admiring your degree from Stanford, which hung on the wall beside the TV, almost close to the door.

"One of my biggest achievements. Besides Olivia, of course," you approached him with his mug of tea. Turning to you, he noticed through his peripheral vision that you had placed the flowers inside a vase and in your coffee table.

"Thanks," he said.

"So... are you okay?"

The question caught him off guard. What?

You smiled a little. "You always look kinda tired when I see you," you said, not thinking about how your words might be interpreted. Your eyes widened, realizing it. "I mean, no! Sorry! You're still pretty, don't worry. It's just— I asked because you might be going through something. Forget I said anything about your looks."

He would definitely never forget.

Spencer laughed, flustered, eyes softly gazing at you while you rambled like a madman. "I'm fine, thanks for asking. Sometimes my job is a little demanding and I'm forced to see some things that usually people don't even think exist," he confessed.

You bit your lip. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be," he retorted, "I have a great team to work with."

"I'm glad to hear that. Sorry I brought it up, you probably don't want to talk about work right now." You said, sipping on your tea.

"Yeah, you're right, again," he chuckled. "How was Olivia's birthday?" He tried a change of subject.

"That was actually the reason I was moping when you got here," you said, trying to force a chuckle. "It was nice, I guess. I was just on edge all day trying to anticipate her emotions regarding her dad, but I guess they never came. At least, not today." You beckoned him to sit with you on the couch, now facing each other directly.

"May I ask why?" He asked, tentatively.

"Why what?"

More hesitance. "Why wasn't he there?"

"From what I know, he moved away." You said, tone unreadable.

He worried that he was overstepping and wasn't sure that he would like to hear more about it. He was scared to find out unpleasant news, such as you still had feelings for him. "I'm sorry." Was all he could muster.

"Don't be. I have a great team," you repeated his words from earlier and he smiled at you.

His brain and tongue didn't seem to be working together that night, he was so avid to know more. "Did you always have support?"

"My parents didn't like the idea of having a single mother when they first heard it. It hit me hard back then, but then I realized it was better to be alone than to stay in an unhappy relationship, especially since Olivia was already in the picture." You said, setting your own mug on the coffee table.

"What happened?" Stop it.

He couldn't help it, he was too curious. It was his first opportunity to truly know the novel sort of family that you had. Apparently, not so much.

"He was distant before leaving. Someone else, maybe?" You asked, rhetorically, a crease between your eyebrows. "I never found out, but I don't want or need to, either. His parents absolutely love Olivia and they were there today, 's all that matters."

"You’re a very strong person."

"I have to be," you said, softly. "You’re a very good listener."

A rush of courage running through his veins. Deciding on not taking the road of unsaid things, like his friends were earlier. Don’t dance around the subject, take the opportunity. Dare. "And you're just as pretty."

The world stopped. You looked at him in disbelief. It didn't last much. A knock on your door. Scratch that: someone banging on your door.

You pinched your eyebrows together. Spencer stood up, almost as if he was doing something wrong. You looked at him, apologizing, "I'm not expecting anyone."

You walked to the door and he stood behind you, telling you he was going to let you be. You didn't want to and you were already chastising yourself from not trying to talk to him and focusing on your problems instead. You opened the door and in the threshold stood Penelope Garcia, gift basket in hands. Before you could speak, both of your guests spoke at the same time.

A mortified "Garcia?" from Spencer.

A surprised "Spencer?" from Penelope.

Finally, a confused "Do you know each other?" from you.

"Yeah. We work together." Spencer replied. "What are you doing here, Penelope?"

"What are you doing here, boygenius?" Her tone now was teasing, a cheshire grin on her face. You were acting confused, but you were loving to see Spencer so out of place.

"I... I was..." He trailed off.

Poor thing. "He came to drop Olivia's gift. We're neighbors." You explained, trying to save him from further embarrassment.

She glanced between you two, eyes full of mirth behind her glasses. "I'm here to do the same." She said, smiling as she handed you the basket, which you took carefully and thanked her with a side hug. "There's her present, sweetcheeks. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there, you know how much I miss you and Olivia. But I'm sure our genius told you all about it." Her sentimental words truly held emotion, but she turned her attention to Spencer once again. The opportunity was too good to let go.

Spencer looked like a fish out of water. You opened your mouth to speak, but he beat you to it. "Garcia, can we talk?" He asked abruptly. "I'm sorry, I have to go." He murmured in a much more soft tone to you.

He could never resume whatever was going on in there because he felt like he had been caught with his pants down.

You were so surprised you didn't even process what was your answer, forgetting to ask if Penelope wanted to come in or anything. "I—Okay. I'll see you, then." With a small smile and slight disappointment in your voice. He all but dashed out of your apartment and took Garcia, who had a mischievous expression on her face, with him. You closed your door and looked at the mix of flowers. A sigh escaped you. Damn, Garcia.

Spencer was escorting Penelope back to her car, ready to bury himself alive because he knew she would run her mouth and knew precisely to whom she would tell about it. And, of course, the endless jokes he would hear during the next few days. "Sooooo..." She trailed off, suggestively.

"I—don't want to talk." She opened her mouth, but had no success in talking. "Not. A. Word."

She entered her car and started the engine as he waited for her to go. But before she started driving, she yelled, "I knew you had it in you, Reid."

From your balcony, work long forgotten, you watched Spencer hide his face in his hands in utter embarrassment.

You were doomed.

[sungbeam]

𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞

dragon shifter!park seonghwa x f!reader

just because you're both dragon shifters doesn't mean this courtship thing is easy.

▷ 6.1k words, pg-13, f2l, dragon shifters au, urban fantasy, swearing, mentions of a big roach/insect, shoulder kiss, seonghwa goes shirtless once (1), mentions of courtship/mating traditions, the boys are implicit in shenanigans ofc, love in the form of jewelry, very mild jealousy, pining

a/n: this au idea was like ,,, 3 months in the making but i reopened the draft yesterday cuz i was tired of rotting 😭 anyways... i think shy, romantic seonghwa is cute ! (also very much hoping this isn't too boring jsfnkdnf)

Park Seonghwa was pretty sure he fell in love with you the day you met. 

It wasn't something he openly admitted to, especially since his attraction had come first when he saw you across the dormitory common room, and was struck dumb by the curve of your smile and the way the sunlight hit your irises to make them glint like jewels. While it was stereotypical to think that dragons only cared about appearances, it didn't come from nothing. It was part of the reason why Seonghwa didn't like saying it was love at first sight; it technically wasn't, by all definitions. He just thought you were beautiful. 

It wasn't until he finally worked up the courage (thanks to his best friend Hongjoong's encouragement (shoving)) to introduce himself to you that he realized what you were—a dragon shifter, just like him. It was no wonder he felt a pull toward you; dragon shifters were a dime a dozen, especially in the city where you both attended university. He told himself his fast friendship and bonding with you came from his excitement of being the same species, as well as learning each other's cultures and traditions, as you came from different clans. 

Though, that didn't account for the amount of times he daydreamed about adorning you in his family's jewels, as it was customary in courtship traditions to wear one's mate's gems. Neither did it account for the way his heart beat faster whenever you were around, the purring from his chest after that one time you fell asleep on his shoulder… It was complicated. 

“Everyone, let's load up the cars! Quick—off your asses. Let's move, people!” Hongjoong hollered like a drill sergeant, his hands cupped around his mouth before clapping too loud for six in the morning on a Saturday. 

Who in their right mind would be crazy enough to wake up so early on the Saturday of their last spring break? Only one demon in particular, and his name was Kim Hongjoong. 

Seonghwa was still half asleep, his eyelids droopy and his limbs even droopier. He nearly flopped face-first onto the pavement outside the apartment complex. He slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and slumped over to the passenger side of the SUV. It had taken all of his willpower to not trudge out in his Lego Movie pajama set.

“—and for goddess's sake, where is Yn?”

He jolted upright. “Yn?” He blubbered, head going on a swivel. 

Hongjoong peered at him weirdly with his hands on his hips, and Wooyoung snorted, then scurried past to avoid Seonghwa's scowl. “Yes, Yn,” Hongjoong said. “Are you awake, Hwa? We literally talked about Yn coming on the trip with us last night.”

Oh. Right. 

Seonghwa blinked his bleary eyes open and nodded sheepishly. Thank goodness he wasn't in his Lego Movie pajamas. “Y-yep, of course I remember!” 

He glanced away, nostrils flaring as he caught onto a familiar scent coming down the street. He could pick out the smell of apple blossoms, tangerines, and your particular musk from a mile away if he was more awake.

“Sorry, I'm late!” Then there came the voice. Your voice simultaneously jump-started his heart and made his heart swoon. If he was about to faint, it probably wasn't going to be from sleep deprivation. 

He couldn't believe he nearly forgot you were coming to the lake with them. 

Your form came into view, your hair a windswept mess and a sheepish sort of smile on your face as you wrestled with the duffle on one shoulder, your backpack on the other, and a paper grocery bag. 

Seonghwa practically fell over himself in order to drop his own bag on the sidewalk and rush over to you. “Here, I got it,” he murmured, taking the grocery bag and duffle bag away from you so he could hold them. 

Your smile widened at him, and he swore the soft morning light was purposefully making your eyes glow right now. “Thanks, Hwa. Very sweet of you.”

“Of course,” he said with a humble nod, pointedly ignoring all of the looks he was getting from his friends. 

“You're just on time,” Hongjoong greeted you with a small smile. “How were exams for you?”

You brushed a hand through your hair, a tired laugh falling from your lips. “They were… alright,” you opted to say. “Glad they're over now, and I'm so ready for this trip.” You gestured to the grocery bag Seonghwa held. “Oh! I brought snacks, by the way.”

Mingi stuck his entire upper body out of the passenger seat of Yunho's sedan. “Yn-ah! You're riding in our car, right?” 

Seonghwa's expression molded into something sour. “Where did you get that idea from?”

“Mingi, you should just give up now,” San chuckled. He sent a wink over to Seonghwa, then glanced back at the naiad who's head Seonghwa was currently trying to glare a hole through. “We’ve already claimed Yn for our car.”

You looked on in confused amusement. “I'll split the snacks between the cars, guys. And plus, the SUV will have more room than the sedan.”

“Exactly,” Seonghwa piped up. He marched over to the back doors of the SUV to safely deposit your things within. There was no need for you to be squished between Yeosang and Jongho in Yunho's comically tiny car, when you could be in the same car as him—no, wait. That wasn't what he meant—

“Well, this is just favoritism,” Yunho jested as he slammed his trunk shut. He shot you a sunny grin that made Seonghwa glance over at you for your reaction. Yunho's being half-siren always made his voice and gestures a little more silken and sweet than the rest of them. “Are you sure it's 'cause of the extra room and not because Wooyoung's cat is gonna be in that car?”

You chuckled, shrugging. As if on cue, a lithe feline in silky black fur trotted out from the bushes. She strutted over to you, purring as she wrapped her tail around your calf. “Okay, maybe you caught me,” you said, crouching down to pet Wooyoung's cat familiar. 

Seonghwa was not going to be jealous over a cat. He was absolutely not. Some sleep would screw his head on straight—yes, sleep did sound nice. He didn't know what was up with himself this morning. 

“Pretty sure she loves you more than she loves me,” Wooyoung pouted as he stuck his head out of the SUV's back window. 

You picked the feline up with your hands, and she gave a crooning meow as you held her up to her witch through the window. “I wouldn't mind adopting her if she wasn't permanently bound to you.”

Seonghwa's eye twitched at the same time he and Hongjoong made eye contact. 

The demon's mouth curled into a knowing, teasing smile—I see you. Seonghwa could feel the heat lift to the surface of his skin as he ducked into the car. He really needed a nap.  

The remainder of the time was used swiftly as everyone finished packing things into your respective cars, including your bodies. About an hour later, you were well on your way out of the city. 

As this was all nine of yours last year of university, this spring break needed to be a memorable one. Yeosang had heard talk through the grapevine of a collection of interlinking caves overlooking a small lake. It was located a few hours out of the city proper, but it would pose as a peaceful getaway for the week. Each of the small caverns were open facing, peering over the water's surface, and each was designed to be like rooms in a house. There would be enough for the boys to sleep two to a bed, with you getting your own. 

The drive out of the city was an easy one. Seonghwa slept nearly the entire time, only waking up to a near-quiet car, save for Hongjoong's choice of music playing softly from the radio. 

“'Morning,” Hongjoong murmured, taking his eyes off the road for a brief moment. 

Seonghwa yawned and turned his eyes up and outward at the world around him. Concrete jungle had become emerald green trees speared with beams of buttery sunshine. He bet it smelled glorious. “Morning,” he said back quietly. “Are they still…” 

His voice trailed off as he twisted around in his seat and took in the middle row behind him. You, San, and Wooyoung were squished arm to arm, thigh to thigh; Wooyoung's black cat familiar laid fast asleep in Wooyoung's lap, with Wooyoung's head against San, San's head against you, and your head against the car window. Seonghwa cooed to himself at the sight, carefully snapping a picture with his phone, before returning to face the front. 

The remainder of the drive was swift, and as you approached the site of your home for the next several days, you all slowly began to wake up. Seonghwa rolled his window down and braced his arm over the open sill, a smile breaking onto his lips as he greedily inhaled the clean, crisp air. 

His eyes flickered to the side mirror, locking gazes with you. For a moment, he held your eye contact. He watched your mouth curve into that pretty smile of yours that made his insides flutter, before you looked out at the forest again. 

When Hongjoong's and Yunho's cars broke out of the trees and into the next clearing, everyone's breaths stole away. 

“No way we scored this good,” San whispered in giddy excitement as he shoved his body between Hongjoong and Seonghwa to peer out the front windshield. 

Before you stood a wide lake, its waters so clear that one could see straight to the bottom. The caverns that you would all bunker up in were on the far shore, stacked atop one another in two layers with four openings on the bottom and three on the top. A waterfall curtained off two of the cavern rooms as it flowed from the rocky outcropping that loomed over the lake, and into the lake itself; the sound was not thunderous, but a dull sort of roar that was almost muffled. 

With the sun rising higher into the sky, its beams reflected off the cascading spray of water to create a small rainbow in the mist. Suffice to say, the view in front of you deserved its own magazine. 

“Let's get our spring break on!” Wooyoung hooted as Hongjoong pulled the car around the shore of the lake to reach the base of the caverns. 

As the day sank from late morning to early afternoon, you and your friends transferred all of your belongings from the cars and into the caverns. Rooms were decided by an efficient round of Rock Paper Scissors—you luckily scored first, and chose the most private room behind the waterfall for yourself. 

Once everyone was settled, it became a race of who could get into the water—

“WAAAAHOOOO!” SPLASH!

—first. 

Seonghwa peered out from the living room cavern on the second floor to see the bodies below take a running start into the lake. He chuckled to himself, leaning his hip against the wall with a can of soda in his hand as he watched his friends break the surface of the lake, one by one. 

“You're not swimming?”

Seonghwa nearly fell forward and out of the open cave, down into the water. His hand slapped against the wall to catch himself, his heart practically tumbling out of his chest anyway. 

To your credit, you looked apologetic, grimacing through a smile as you came to stand next to him. “Sorry. You didn't hear me come in?” 

You had changed out of your T-shirt and shorts from earlier into a cropped tank top and loose skirt, a silver waist chain winking up at him from where it linked around your belly. 

The thought shoved itself into his brain—that you would look terribly divine in his jewelry.

He swallowed, dragging his eyes up back to yours. “I didn't,” he admitted sheepishly. “Guess I was too focused on watching everyone else. Have you settled in alright?”

You had chosen the cavern bedroom right next to the living room, but it was the only bedroom on this level. 

With a nod, you turned your gaze outward at the ocean of emerald green trees surrounding this little oasis. “I have,” you said pleasantly. “You?”

“Same here.” He carded a hand through his hair. “It's really quite beautiful here.” But not as beautiful as you. 

You glanced over at him again, and he wondered if he could concoct enough things to say to keep your attention on him. “Oh, I definitely agree; it's a perfect paradise, really. The waterfall” — you inclined your chin to your left — “I think it'll be most beautiful at sunset.”

He lifted one of his brows and pushed off the cavern wall. “Oh? Why do you think so?”

“If the sunset faces us,” you explained, gesturing your hand out to the eastern horizon in the distance, “then it'll reflect its light against the waterfall. As the sun sinks down and lights the sky on fire, so too will it set the water aflame.”

Seonghwa could envision your words in his mind's eye as he took in the waterfall careening into the lake below. Its crystal blue waters were so clear that it undoubtedly would reflect the shades of the sunset, and become illuminated as you said—where water turned to flame. 

A soft smile came to his face. What a gorgeous image. 

“I bet it'd look incredible from the skies.” Your words drew him back to your face. You were already looking over at him, and his heart gave a loving lurch. 

Seonghwa cleared his throat. “I agree. Have you been able to stretch your wings recently?”

You hummed, tilting your head from side to side. “Not super recently because I was locked inside to study for the last week or two. You?”

“Same,” he chuckled and reached behind his back to scratch at the nape of his neck. Usually, he tried to shift into dragon form at least twice a week to keep his wings strong, but when life got busy, it was difficult to find enough time to take to the skies. “Would—would you like to take a flight with me sometime?” He stammered, fumbling over his words. “Just, y'know, like a casual thing.”

Excellent, Hwa. The spitting image of confidence. 

He sipped on his soda, already hearing Hongjoong's exasperated sigh in his ear. 

Your smile softened at the corners. “I'd love to. After dinner, maybe?”

His shoulders loosened in relief. “Sounds like a plan.”

“This is your chance! It's a sign!” 

Seonghwa frowned at his reflection in the vanity mirror as he played around with his dark curls. Tied up? Kept down? It really didn't matter; he was literally going to be a dragon for the majority of the time, but it never hurt to appear well-groomed before a potential… ahem, friend. A friend. 

Hongjoong slumped down on the foot of their shared bed, a deadpan on his face when Seonghwa continued to ignore him. “Park Seonghwa, so help me, I will plant one of your anklets in her jewelry box—”

“And if you do that,” Seonghwa drawled as he gave up on his hair and reached for the tube of lip gloss on the vanity top, “I will tell that elven girl you've become so fond of about how you—”

“Okay, I got it,” Hongjoong cut in with a scowl. “Aish, so touchy. I'm just saying that this trip is the perfect opportunity to let her know how you feel, and to court her.”

Seonghwa knew that; of course, he fucking knew that. The thing was that if anything went poorly, you would practically be stuck here with him until the end of the trip. He cringed to himself at the mere awkwardness of that potential outcome. “It's just a wing stretch,” he reasoned aloud to himself. He grabbed one of the bottles of cologne on the table to spritz around his scent glands. “It's not like I'm going to offer her a necklace.”

“Yes, because you need to smell nice for a wing stretch.” Hongjoong fell back onto the bed with a grumble under his breath at Seonghwa's stubbornness. 

Dinner had finished up about fifteen minutes ago, and while everyone departed to do their own activities, you and Seonghwa agreed to reconvene at the tops of the caves in five minutes for your planned flight together. The days were growing longer as spring waltzed toward summer, and thus, the sun reigned the skies for a lengthier period of time. The two of you would ideally circle back in time to watch the sunset hit the waterfall.

Seonghwa left Hongjoong to their quarters as he made his way up to the rocky outcropping at the top of the waterfall. 

You were already waiting for him, your bare feet standing in the shallow end of the river leading down to the waterfall. You still had on the top and skirt from earlier, and as a light breeze wafted past, it blew through your hair and your clothes like a dream. 

You glanced up at him. “Ready?”

“Whenever you are.” He grinned as the anticipation and excitement of breaking his wings free slowly bubbled up into his chest. It wasn't only being able to spend time with you, but simply the thoughts of being his dragon self that made him so giddy. 

You hopped out of the river and padded across the soil toward him. 

Once you were in line with him, Seonghwa flashed you a wide smile and sprinted toward the cliff edge. Your laughter followed him as he dove off toward the water below, eyes falling closed as he relished in the wind whipping past his skin. 

When he opened his eyes, he skimmed the water's surface with the edge of a veiny, membranous wing, before swooping back up toward the ripening sky above. His humanoid features had fully transformed into that of a creature nearly five times his human height. Scales of obsidian, gleaming a dark blue in the light, rippled across his back, his skin. He huffed steam from his nostrils and searched for you. 

A body of iridescent white, so pearly that you appeared a shade of light purple in the burning gold light, blurred in his periphery. 

He whipped his head in your direction, watching you soar around him in a loose circle. You wrapped around him and grazed the end of your tail against his, a caress. 

He didn't want to think too much about that. 

And then your irises, blue-purple in this form, were blinking at him. Northward? Your snout gestured in that vague direction. 

Seonghwa huffed his agreement, and the pair of you took off into the skies. 

A dragon shifter's courtship traditions were different from other shifters’ cultures. For one, the value of wearing a potential mate's jewelry was equivalent to acceptance of courtship; additionally, wearing one another's jewels essentially spelled out a long-term partnership. It was similar to humans’ exchanging of rings. 

Dragons dressed their mates in their own jewels as dragons were ruthlessly protective of their hoards of treasures, and a mate was even more precious than any jewel one could acquire. There were other rituals, too—such as dousing one another in dragonfire, performing a certain mating dance, consuming meals made by their mate—but the jewels had always been emphasized in Seonghwa's clan. 

It was why he stiffened when he saw a slim, silver chain wrapped around your ankle this morning. 

The piece of jewelry looked awfully similar to something he owned, except the one you wore was studded with an amethyst on the tail, whereas the one he owned was studded with sapphire. He struggled to swallow as he stepped into the kitchen, eyes pinned to your ankle. 

The way the light refracted off the gem made the article appear so much like his own jewelry; his heart could not take a scare like that so early. Perhaps scare wasn't such an accurate word—he simply hadn't had the time to mentally prepare. 

It didn't matter how long he'd fantasized about it. Seeing the real thing would likely bring him to his knees regardless. 

“Hwa,” your amused chuckle greeted his ears as you peered at him from over the rim of your coffee cup. “Good morning.”

He tried for a smile and forced himself to look at something, anything, other than your ankle. “Hi. Good morning.” Seonghwa grabbed a cup of his own to pour a helping of the brew into. “Sleep well?”

You rolled your shoulders back, followed by your neck. But as he blew on the hot coffee, he failed to notice the way your eyes watched his movements regarding the coffee. “Mhm, way better after we flew last night.”

Seonghwa hummed warmly. “Yes, same here.” Last night was a blissful night of deep sleep. The tension between his shoulder blades had lessened considerably. 

He took a gentle sip of his beverage, and the rich bittersweetness hit him as an alluring wakeup call. You were still watching as he took a larger gulp. 

His eyes met yours. “Something wrong?” He asked, licking his lips. 

Your eyes widened. “Nope,” you squeaked out. You coughed, setting your mug on the table to lace your fingers together. “Uhm so… thoughts on kebabs for lunch? I was gonna go hunting later.”

“Mmh.” Seonghwa drained his cup of coffee. “That sounds good. I can go with you—if you'd like,” he added swiftly. Sometimes hunting could be a therapeutic solo trip and he hoped he wasn't encroaching. Though, going hunting just the two of you sounded nice, too. 

“I'd love the company,” you said. When you smiled, his own widened. 

The brief moment of peace the two of you shared shattered as two bodies barrelled into the room, followed by another set of thundering footsteps behind them. 

“YAH! Choi Jongho, I know this was all your idea!” Wooyoung appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, drenched from head to toe with dark and damp bangs hanging in his seething eyes. A puddle was beginning to form beneath him as he glared at the two giggling imps cowering behind the opposite end of the counter. 

You and Seonghwa connected gazes across the chaos. Good grief. 

From behind Wooyoung's calf, another creature poked her head out to hiss at the perpetrators. Wooyoung's cat familiar looked akin to a wet rat, the poor thing. 

“Seonghwa hyung, do something!”

Seonghwa's eyes drifted over to Jongho and Yeosang, who flashed him a pair of sheepish smiles. “Aye… both of you. Now.”

“We didn't get water on San,” was what Yeosang offered with a shrug. 

That seemed to not be the answer Wooyoung was looking for. If the witch was a dragon instead, Seonghwa was sure he would be blowing steam out of his ears. “Are you kidding me? I am going to hex you so badly, you will never know a day of peac—”

Jongho suddenly yelped, startling everyone as he leaped a couple feet in the air and ran to crouch beside you at the breakfast table. 

“What, what? What is it?” 

Yeosang's eyes had widened to the size of globes, too, as he scurried backward to the edge of the cavern. His stare was still pinned to something on the other side of the counter. 

Seonghwa peered over the ledge and swore sharply. “That is the biggest fucking bug I have ever seen in my life,” he said with his hand pressed to his face, stressed. 

Wooyoung had magically disappeared, and his cat had retreated alongside him. If even the cat didn't want anything to do with the big hunk of insect—

“AH-AH! HYUNG, IT'S MOVING!” Jongho screeched and grabbed the back of your chair to hide behind you. 

Seonghwa paused at that action, but snapped out of it when he saw the legs peek out from around the corner. “Can someone get Yunho?”

“Ohhhhh, I'm too young to die,” the youngest whispered toward the ceiling, his face contorted in fear and anguish; it was a rare thing to see from Jongho. “Yn, please, flame its ass or something!”

You sputtered, curling your feet up onto your chair with you in case the bug came scuttling toward the table. “Uh no. Yunho would literally flame me if I did!”

“Screw what he thinks. He's not here right now.”

Seonghwa clambered up onto the counter and peered over the edge again. He slapped a hand over his mouth after seeing the bug for another time. “Okay,” he said carefully, “on the count of three, we're all going to run for the edge and jump into the lake.”

Three nods from around the room. 

“One…” Everyone shifted an inch toward the cave opening. “Two…”

The fuckass bug moved. 

The countdown was abandoned—Jongho ran for the opening and tackled Yeosang into the water. Seonghwa leaped over the remainder of the countertop in time to swan dive into the lake beside you. His body sliced into the water like a hot knife through butter, and the lake's cool temperatures engulfed him in a refreshing embrace. 

Your head popped up right beside him and you shot him a laughing grin. “Well, that's definitely one way to start off the day.”

He laughed alongside you, slicking his wet hair back and out of his face. “I mean, we were gonna end up in the water at some point,” he mused. 

“True.” Your eyes zeroed in on something just below his jawline. You swam a little closer, and Seonghwa's heart catapulted into his throat. “You have a little, uhm, watercress…”

Your fingers brushed over his collarbone as you gently plucked the strand of watercress out from the links of the necklace sitting on his sternum. You lifted the plant up as if to say, 'Ta da,’ before pausing at your physical proximity. 

Seonghwa watched as a drop of water dripped down the middle of your face, down the slope of your nose, and slipped over your plush lips. Woah…

He had half the mind to reach out and thumb it away. 

“Two dragons, a fae prince, and a water mage couldn't handle a fucking roach?” 

You and Seonghwa jolted away from each other like similar poles of a magnet, heat rushing up to the surface of your skin. You both tilted your gazes up to the caves and saw Yunho appear at the mouth of the kitchen, a wide grin on his face as he held the bug up between his two fingers. 

“That sounds like a joke I've heard before,” San laughed as he walked up next to Yunho. He waved down at the lot of you in the water, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. 

Wooyoung peered out from behind San. “Instant karma!” He hollered. 

“Come down here, and we can talk about instant karma,” Jongho threw right back up at him. He flicked his wrist and sent a jet of lake water up to the cave mouth, hitting Wooyoung square between the eyes with scary accuracy. 

San howled in laughter as his friend hissed from the friendly fire. 

Seonghwa loosened a warm chuckle before turning toward you—wait. Where did you go? He twirled around in the water, eyes scanning the lake for where you'd gone. 

“Hwa!” You were by the far shore, raising your hand up to wave him over. 

He didn't hesitate to swim over toward you. The two of you swam over to the furthest edge of the lake, far from the others. The morning sun had not yet crested high enough to penetrate through the trees here, and that left you both in a patch of dreamy shade where long leaves dripped into the water like Mother Nature's curtains. 

Seonghwa clambered out onto the bank and yanked the hem of his shirt up and over his head. The material had stuck to his skin like glue, and he was a lot more comfortable without it on. 

Behind him though, he swore he heard your breath hitch. 

The corner of his lips curled upward in satisfaction. He continued to feign ignorance as he wrung his wet shirt out, arm muscles flexing as the water trickled out of the fabric. “You coming up, love?” He asked casually, peering over his shoulder at you lingering in the water. 

You cleared your throat as you pulled yourself onto land. “Y-yeah,” you said, covering your stammer with a breathy laugh. 

“Cold?” He teased, finally turning his body to face you in full. 

You passed him an expression of playful exasperation. “Freezing,” you jested back. It was difficult for dragon shifters to be cold; the amount of heat either of you generated on your own was enough to keep you warm all the time. After all, you did spew fire from your mouth on occasion. 

Seonghwa whipped his shirt out in front of him and blew a breath of steam through it. The fabric dried up fast, but instead of putting it back on, he slung it over his shoulder. 

An idea plunked itself into the forefront of his mind. “Shall we hunt?” He asked and extended a hand out to you. 

He saw the flicker of blue-purple in your irises—like lightning—as you brushed a lock of hair from your eyes. You took his hand, your fingers and palms slotting together like matching clasps of a chain. “We shall.”

Seonghwa sat at the vanity table in his and Hongjoong's room. The world beyond the mouth of this cavern was a dark sapphire, embroidered with small diamonds in its fabric—the night sky and its stars. The muffled rush of the waterfall nearby played in the background as he sifted through his traveler's chest of jewelry and gemstones. Hongjoong had half fallen asleep in the hot spring somewhere behind him, so Seonghwa was taking this time to pick out what he wanted to wear to… tomorrow…

His hand movements stilled as something caught his eyes in the chest of shiny stones. He held his breath, carefully withdrawing a silver chain out by its amethyst stone. There was no question about what it was and that it didn't belong to him. 

Your fragrance still lingered on the metal, though cool from being away from your body heat for a while. 

Seonghwa breathed out loudly through his nose as he stared at the article in his palm. 

He could hear Hongjoong emerging from the hot spring pool. “Something wrong, Hwa?”

“Did you” — Seonghwa's brows furrowed and he twisted around on the vanity stool — “steal her anklet?”

Hongjoong frowned, wrapping a towel around his waist before coming to stand beside his friend. He peered down at the article, reaching out to touch the anklet. 

Seonghwa moved his hand away and his chest rumbled with a low growl. 

A soft huff of amusement fell from Hongjoong's lips, and he settled his hand on Seonghwa's shoulder instead. “No, I wouldn't dare. I don't want to face a dragon's wrath for stealing from their hoard, thank you very much.”

“Hmph.” Seonghwa considered the article in his palm once more. If Hongjoong wasn't pulling his leg, then the logical answer was that you put your anklet in his jewelry chest. But why would you do that, and when did you? He would have smelled your scent lingering in this room if you had, and he couldn't pick up on any of his friends’ scents either. 

A flower of hope blossomed in his chest as he thought about the implications of this gesture further. Maybe it didn't matter how it got here, only what you thought about it being here in his possession.

“It's a sign,” Hongjoong giggled, squeezing his shoulder. He trudged away to go find his sweatpants to sleep in. “Your move, Park!”

Seonghwa slowly wrapped his fingers around the chain, a small smile flitting onto his face. In the mirror, his cheekbones burned the color of the rubies in his jewelry case. 

His move, indeed. 

In the morning, Seonghwa rose before day broke the dawn. 

It had come to him like a strike of lightning last night as he laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, weighing the option of wearing your anklet like a lovesick fool or returning it to you in the morning. What he'd remembered, instead, was something you told him about your clan's traditions. 

While his family held a lot more emphasis on adornment for mating traditions, your family clan put more importance on the act of making a meal for a potential partner. Consuming said meal was an acceptance of courtship and love. 

As he hunched over the kitchen countertop pouring over a recipe on his phone, he marinated on how to go about this. Presenting you with breakfast—that he only made for you, might he add—was not a subtle move in the slightest. Perhaps slipping your anklet into his things could be interpreted a couple ways, but it wasn't a glaring neon sign like this gesture was going to be. 

Nonetheless, Seonghwa got to work. He was counting on his friends to stay the fuck asleep. 

About an hour later, he was just finishing up when he picked up on the sound of your bare feet padding across the hallway toward the kitchen. Your perfume followed next, carrying into the room on an invisible breeze. Seonghwa drummed his fingers against the countertop as you strolled into the room, eyes wide and bright when you saw him there with food made. 

“Well, something smells yummy,” you said warmly. “Should I go wake the others?”

“No!” He laughed nervously, breaking into a bashful smile. “No need. This—this is just for you. I mean, I made breakfast for you.”

Your eyes seemed to grow even wider. “Break—breakfast for me? Just me?”

He nodded and wrung his hands in front of his body. “Just you… if that's okay.”

“Of course, that's okay. More than okay, really,” you murmured, eyes turning shy. The implications were too blatant not to miss or deny. 

Seonghwa gestured for you to take a seat at the breakfast table and presented you with the hot and fresh plate of breakfast he'd just made. He claimed the seat across from you with his own plate, but didn't touch it yet. His nerves made his hands shake beneath the table as he watched you take your utensil and fork a bite into your mouth. 

Something warm burst in his chest as you swallowed, then took another bite. 

“It's really good,” you said to him between bites. Your mouth was pursed into a wide smile, a tenderness swimming in your gemstone irises. “I think though,” you murmured after swallowing, “that we need to talk.”

Seonghwa's stomach tightened, but he nodded. “Agreed. I, uhm, I found this in my jewelry case last night.” He pulled out the strand of silver and amethyst from his pocket. The metal and jewel glistened in the soft morning sunlight pouring into the open cavern. 

“Oh, you didn't wear it?”

He went doe-eyed. “I wanted to—I just wanted to be clear about intentions first, just because if I wore this…” He stammered, “Then you'd be mine and I'd be yours.” 

The wording of it made your pulse skip, but it was exactly what you wanted. All of this stumbling around each other, falling over yourselves, was for this purpose. 

“Is that right, love?”

You nodded, as the two of you shared a smile in the glow of early morning. “That's right.”

He would be yours, and you would be his. 

Breakfast was dined upon in peace with quiet murmurings exchanged between the two of you, accompanied by light laughter and loving gazes. It was a marvel none of it was interrupted by the other occupants of the lakeside getaway. 

There was another thing that had to be done in order to seal the deal, however. 

When breakfast was finished and cleaned up after, Seonghwa barged back into his and Hongjoong's shared bedroom. His demon best friend was nowhere to be found, but it was no matter. Seonghwa went over to the vanity table and carefully picked up the necklace he had laid out last night. It was white gold studded in fat, glistening rubies—his prized possession, and one of the few pieces he had saved for only his future partner to wear.

That giddy excitement curled in his stomach again as he took the necklace with him up to your bedroom on the second floor. You were there waiting for him, your foot braced on the vanity stool to fix his sapphire chain onto your ankle, as your amethyst one laid around his. 

“This,” he murmured as he came up behind you in the mirror, “I've been saving for someone special.” He locked eyes with you in the looking glass, a sweet smile playing on his lips as he draped the heavy gems over your sternum. 

Blood rubies were precious and harder to come by these days, which was why Seonghwa coveted them. It only made sense that they should rest now on a person he would also come to value even more. They sat perfectly upon your collarbones, like a tiara upon your head… like it was made for you. You were yourself a treasure. 

Seonghwa could hardly contain his contentment at the sight. He wrapped his arms around your middle as he pressed a kiss to your shoulder, smiling against your skin. “Perfect.”

a/n: don't forget to reblog + comment if u enjoyed!

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[personasintro]

Mutual Help | #46

↳ 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬; in order for you to pretend to be his girlfriend, he helps you with your sexual desires ⏤ he calls it mutual help

⇢ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: jungkook x reader

⇢ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fake dating au, fluff, angst, smut, slow burn

⇢ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: explicit language, mature content

⇢ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 19.4k+

⇠ 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯. | 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱 | 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 ⇢ 

Closing one of the boxes with a tape, you look around what used to be your living room and technically still is, but the remainder that it soon won't be is too real and big. Packing some of your things that Jungkook will later take to his place makes you doubt your decision. Only because you already feel bad at the thought of taking up his space no matter how many times he has told you it's not true. More like has scolded you with that prominent frown of his. You just can't help it.

All of this feels weird.

You will have to leave a bunch of your furniture behind, well to sell it to be completely exact which kind of makes you sad to be doing. There isn't space where you could store your couch, television and other stuff Jungkook already has in his apartment. He has helped you with everything, from searching for possible buyers and putting all your stuff on the internet that needs to be sold. You had done that together during sad evenings of you sulking next to Jungkook.

"You've made the right decision,"

You get startled at Jimin's soft voice next to you, completely forgetting for a second that he's been holding the box for you so you could tape it. He sets it on top of another box as he gives you an encouraging smile, hand squeezing your shoulder.

"Stop doubting everything, you've stayed at his place so many times, it's your second home at this point." Jimin jokes, causing you to glare at him but a playful grin cracks on your lips as you silently agree with him. You also appreciate how he tries to put you at ease, sensing your doubting.

All of you have stayed at Jungkook's home so many times that it doesn't feel like a foreign place. But still, it's Jungkook's home.

"I know, I just... it feels weird to move in there." you admit quietly, feeling bad for even saying it out loud because somehow, it makes you sad for Jungkook.

He's here sacrificing his space and privacy for you, just so he can help you. You know it's more than that but it doesn't feel right to have thoughts like these, constantly doubting this whole situation as Jimin has called it.

"You've always been bad with changes," Jimin offers simply, squeezing your shoulder for the last time before he lets go.

He's right, you realize as soon as he says it. You don't like changes, at least not big ones like this and especially in your little fucked up situation.

"I think that's why you feel dubious about this and that's completely fine. But you know Jungkook, and I think his place is the most comfortable place you could be living in."

Again, Jimin is more than right. Out of all the options you had, Jungkook's place feels like the most comfortable and safe option for you. Not that living with your other two friends wouldn't. There are just more cons of living with one of them. For example, Jimin's place is smaller and you already feel bad for taking up most of Jungkook's current space once you move in with him. Taehyung's wild life full of bringing strangers to his home isn't the most pleasant place to be living in, and you can't expect him to change things because of you. Not that you'd want him to.

Another thing that scares you though, something you haven't said out loud and definitely aren't planning to tell Jimin, is the fact you're going to be so close to Jungkook now. You'll be under the same roof which makes a little intrigued excitement spark inside of you.

"Yeah, I know," you murmur, "I don't mean to sound ungrateful."

"You don't," Jimin smiles and assures you, "You just sound like our Y/N."

That makes you chuckle, your conversation soon interrupted by manly chuckles as Taehyung and Jungkook walk out of your kitchen shoving each other as you roll your eyes at their usual and childish behavior. They said they came to help but so far, it looks like they came to help to empty your pantry. Taehyung holding one of your snacks says it all as they finally join you.

"Why that serious face?" Taehyung asks as soon as he spots you, wiggling his brows as he shamelessly takes a bite of the snack, silently challenging you to tell him something. But before you can tell him off, playfully of course because yes, you're slightly annoyed but not to the point you'd have to get angry because it's just a stupid snack, Jimin beats you to it.

"Ah, our friend here is getting all guilty and dubious." Jimin says mischievously, ignoring the grin you send him as you already hear Jungkook sighing as he plops on your couch, arm stretching and resting on the couch's top.

"Why?" Taehyung almost whines, "Girl, just enjoy the huge bathtub. I'd kill to have one in my place. And Jungkook is like the cleanest guy I know, he even does his own laundry and he actually likes it!"

That makes you laugh as Jungkook grins but rolls his eyes at Taehyung complimenting his laundry skills. He says it as if it's super unusual for men to do this kind of stuff.

"No, you're just saying that because you're a pig." Jimin jumps into the conversation, both you and Jungkook laughing at Taehyung's open mouth and the well-known glare he shoots at his friend.

The two of them start to bicker, something you're not in the mood to listen again and thanks to Jungkook you don't have to, because as soon as you plop onto the spot next to him, his arm stretched behind you, you're slightly intoxicated by the smell of him which is one of your biggest weaknesses when it comes to him. The guy is wearing sweatpants and a shirt and you're already drooling. And that's enough to zone out the bickering of those two for a moment but there's something else Jungkook wants to say.

"You're bruising my ego with all that doubting shit," he says lightly, grinning at you as you realize how close you're sitting next to him.

You can see his skin so clearly, he's so close that it would only take two seconds to lean in for you to kiss him, two seconds to eye the silver jewelry decorating his brow that you still can't get used to. Everytime you see it, it's like a slap to your face that reminds you how hot, more hot, your best friend is getting. Not that you thought it's even possible.

He's joking but still voicing the elephant in the room which causes more guilt to come to the surface as your features soften. "That's not it, Kook. I made my decision and I'm fine with it, I just--you know me. I'm grateful you're letting me stay at your place. I really am."

"Really?" Jungkook asks, smirking as he raises his brow at you. For a moment you look at him expectantly and confusingly, until he leans towards you to get close to your ear. "How grateful?"

Glancing at him, you look straight away to feel his hot breath on the side of your face again as you bite into your lower lip, eyes flickering to Jimin and Taehyung who are fooling around while laughing. You're too distracted to tell them to put down those pillows before they break something.

"Very grateful." you mutter to Jungkook, sounding almost sheepishly as excitement and shyness shakes in your chest.

"Hm, you can show me later then," he proposes, voice husky and low which makes you instantly gulp, trying to hide how much his words affect you.

It's the first time Jungkook has hinted at something like that since that incredible morning at his place with your legs stretched for his mouth. You've been thinking about that a lot, you're not going to lie and you've no idea what comes over Jungkook to act like this again, but you love it and you're here for it. You feel that flame of lust and excitement that you've felt with him in June and then months after, during the deal you had.

Finding his eyes, you find them mischievously looking into yours and you have to brace yourself not to get too distracted. "Maybe I will." you tell him silently, lips curving in a satisfied smirk when he grins at you – not in the typical cute bunny way, but in the way you're ten seconds from sitting on his lap.

"Yah, what are you two whispering about?" Taehyung suddenly yells, giving a last smack to Jimin's head with your pillow and then cackles when Jimin tells him to fuck off.

"Just how dumb the two of you are." Jungkook reacts, tongue in his cheek teasingly as Taehyung gasps.

"Yo, don't forget you're the younger one."

"Yeah, and I seriously doubt that sometimes." he murmurs, eyes flickering to yours as you giggle.

But before Taehyung can complain about the younger's attitude, the ringing of Jungkook's phone resounds and he picks it up, informing the food delivery is here seconds after. After another minute of bickering, Jimin drags Taehyung with him since there is a lot of food and you're sure some part of him has done it to get back at Taehyung. Eventually, they go down to pick up the food while you tell them you'll pack a few more boxes until they come back, which shouldn't take long.

Jungkook offers to help, the whole purpose of him being here actually, and he follows you to your bedroom. There is a lot of stuff you've to pack and even though you don't have to move out in a month or more, you've to arrange things you'll throw away, sell or take with you. Which reminds you that the person who is buying your couch, is supposed to come in two days and take it with them. More things won't be here in a few days and technically, it won't be a proper living space. The most important things such as your bed or stool in the kitchen where you can sit down and have your meal are still here. You're taking your bed with you, although you're not sure how Jungkook will make space in his office for it.

But – he's too determined to make it work and who are you to oppose.

That's why you've decided to spend the first night at Jungkook's apartment because it'll make things easier. You still have to clean this place after some of the furniture and things are done. It's not dirty because you cleaned it every day but still, there must be dust and dirt behind the furniture. After talking to your friends, they all said you should focus on making this apartment to its needed state and sleeping at Jungkook's place (slash living) would make things easier. And you've to agree.

Still, it's happening too soon but somehow, you're okay with it because it makes sense.

There are already a few boxes in your bedroom, most of them seasonal clothes that you don't need in this current weather which are thick and warm jackets or summer dresses. Packing your make-up is the first task you settle upon, knowing it shouldn't take too long and Taehyung and Jimin will be here any minute.

Jungkook continues with the process he was doing before disappearing in the kitchen with Taehyung, so you don't worry about him as you hear him rustle behind you. Too occupied in your thoughts and a task, you don't notice the sudden silence, and Jungkook's steps aimed towards you are just an empty sound at the back of your mind. That's until he settles a box in front of you, a box you haven't seen in a while but know very much.

You want to abruptly turn around and scold him for bringing this out right now, but he presses himself onto you so that it's almost impossible.

"What do we have here?" he muses teasingly, causing you to scoff. "Haven't seen this one in a while."

And then you watch his tattooed hand slowly opening the box as you're met with a sight of the only sex toy you own, and that is very much thanks to the man standing behind you.

"What? You wanted to borrow it?" you murmur dryly, hearing him chuckle but that is before he delivers a light spank to the side of your ass that makes you yelp.

Completely unexpected and surprised by his reaction, you can't help but feel warmness in the pit of your stomach as your toes curl, especially with Jungkook's close proximity.

"Don't get smart on me." he warns, causing you to bite your lower lip as you try to let out a careless scoff.

"Close it before the guys see it." you tell him, breath hitching when he wraps his arm around your waist and starts caressing your stomach which sets alive the thousand of butterflies in your body. Fuck, you hate him for knowing how to touch you. Even the slightest touch makes your body on fire.

"What, they already know you owe one, don't you remember?" he hums, playing into the game as his hand inches lower and plays with the hem of your sweatpants.

"Yeah, thanks to you," you point out dryly again, giggling when Jungkook suddenly presses his lips into your neck and gently bites you there. "They were too drunk, they probably don't remember." You voice your thoughts hearing Jungkook hum as the tip of his fingers get under the hem, meeting the fabric of your panties.

"Trying to calm down your worries by telling yourself that?" he teases, chuckling into your neck as you arch your back, meeting his hard chest as soon as his fingers get under the hem of your panties as well. Fuck, what is he doing?

"Fuck you," you let out shakily.

"I will, soon," he promises, causing you to whine as his fingers get close to your heat but not quite enough to be touching you there just yet. "This okay?" he assures, causing your heart to swell as you nod too quickly.

And that's all he needs before he lowers his hand and cups you inside your underwear, two fingers parting your lower lips as you suddenly gasp, leaning onto Jungkook whose body holds you in place. Head thrown back, you grab his hand that moved to your hip while the other one is busy being buried in your panties, you squeeze his warm and soft skin.

"You're not throwing it away, right? That would be rude, it was quite expensive,"

His voice is full of mischief and he gives you no time to respond, fingers finding your clit as he circles around the sensitive bud causing you to gasp, his name dying on your tongue as he hums.

"We could have fun with it, like the good old days..."

He's teasing you, you hear the smirk in his voice and you can feel his lips stretching against the skin of the temple where his mouth lays.

"Shut up," you choke up, knowing you should end this before the guys can find you here like this. There would be a lot of explaining to do and you're not quite ready for interrogation from them.

"What, liking it too much?"

"Fuck," you gasp when his fingers glide easily and circling your entrance, thanks to the wetness that Jungkook caused with his mouth. Maybe just a few more minutes won't hurt...

But the universe isn't on your side because just as the tip of Jungkook's finger is about to enter you, your mouth falling open with knees close to buckling, the sound of your door being open is like a glass shattering on the floor. Jungkook sighs, pulling out his hand out of your panties as you turn around, face completely flushed and heated, just in time to see him putting his middle finger in his mouth.

His lips wrap around his long finger deliciously, it lasts just a second as he tastes you with your open left ajar with rushed breaths. "Too bad baby, the fun has ended." And apparently, so have you.

You're almost falling apart, the pet name that probably fell out of his mouth without much thinking has caused your whole pussy to throb, begging to feel his fingers again. And he is so fucking hot, he surely knows it because he gives you a pleased smirk, raising his brow at you.

"We are here!" Taehyung yells, too close to you to be yelling like this but it's the only warning that wakes you out of your daze, your hands automatically moving to close the box that Jungkook has so kindly opened.

Just in time Taehyung barges in the room, his brown and attentive eyes falling on your figure and he finds you odd, especially the way you're staring at him. On another hand, Jungkook looks completely fine and walks to Taehyung as if nothing happened. "Come on, let's eat."

"Yeah," Taehyung says, eyeing you as Jungkook brushes past him. "You good?"

"Yeah, yeah," you answer too quickly, touching your cheeks as you shake your head and give him a nervous chuckle.

Whatever it is, Taehyung decides to ignore it because you've been acting weird these days and it has a lot to do with the whole moving change and process, so he doesn't really blame you. He follows you, the four of you washing your hands before you eat the delicious food that is already prepared in your living room thanks to Jimin.

As you and Jungkook wash your hands, you can't help but give him a glance while you're reminded what has just happened – but Jungkook cocks his brow at you cockily and all you can do is shake your head at him, splashing him with tiny droplets on your fingers in his face.

The two of you join your friends with stupid grins on your faces – them being completely unaware of the exchange.

There's a bit of a helpless feeling that cuts in your chest thanks to your stuff that's currently taking up a lot of space in Jungkook's office. After feeding yourselves and dividing boxes to your and Jungkook's car, all of you have moved to his apartment to properly celebrate – as Taehyung has called it but he's just looking for an excuse to drink and eat free food. Not that you mind, they have helped you a lot today and it's nice to hang out again without all the club setting that you've slowly grown tired of.

Sprawled on Jungkook's couch, you bring cans of coke to each of them as they murmur a poor excuse of "thank you", completely immersed in trying to choose a good movie.

"Jungkook, don't forget about Friday," you tell him as you join them on the couch, squeezed between Jungkook and Taehyung causing the older one to grumble annoyingly at you, pointing at the huge space of Jungkook's couch. "This is the best spot," you argue at Taehyung, shoving your elbow in his stomach as he swats your arm away.

"What's Friday anyway?" Taehyung asks, scooting a little to have some space so you're not glued to his side with an unappreciative frown, frowning even more when you provocatively grin at him.

"Ah, my boss invited Jungkook to one of our celebration parties. Don't ask me, completely unnecessary but our participation is somehow required. Shortly said, we got this amazing deal with another model agency in China which of course, means more money for the company and my boss thinks it's great to celebrate it. He also invited some partners and possible future partners,"

"So, he wants to basically impress them and maybe snatch a few new deals." Jimin says which you automatically nod to.

"Okay, but why is Jungkook invited? Can't you bring me instead?" Taehyung whines, causing you to snort as Jimin does the same thing.

"What would you possibly do there?"

"Ah, excuse me?" Taehyung scoffs, "If it means free food and alcohol, I'm always down to attend any unnecessary celebrations."

Jungkook chuckles next to you, eyes still fully attached to the screen while trying to find a movie all of you will be okay with – the hardest task of tonight. Jimin and you join, laughing at Taehyung as he grins but you all know he's not bluffing.

Shaking head, you open your mouth. "Jungkook actually took some pictures for the company a few months ago and Junho was very pleased with them. He asked me on Tuesday if I could perhaps tell Jungkook that he's invited, he knows he's my friend so I think he purposely asked me, so there's a bigger chance he'd go or something."

It is actually strange of Junho but at the same time you're not surprised. It's pretty rare of him to show any kind of praise to his employees and people working under him, but he's been completely swooned by Jungkook's talent which to be honest, you're not shocked since you know him and his work. Everyone has been very pleased with the outcome of Jungkook's great photography skills.

You were even more surprised to be stopped by Junho in the hallway, he doesn't speak to you if it's not necessary, and he actually acted like a nice human being for once. You're not stupid and delusional, of course it was because he wanted something from you and that something is Jungkook's presence at the party. Still, the looks of some of your co-workers they exchanged are still fresh in your memory and you wonder if there are already any rumors going around. If yes, Yoongi would be the first one to kindly remind you of them.

"Ah, yeah, I remember you guys mentioned he did something for your company." Taehyung recalls, causing you to nod along his words.

"Yeah, I think Junho just wants to impress the partners and is using Jungkook for it, I don't know," you shrug, "And you," you nudge Jungkook in the shoulder but he only hums in return with his mouth open as he stares at the screen.

So you reach for his longer hair, tugging onto them as he scolds you with a frown. "Look at me when I'm talking to you," you scold him back, hearing Jimin and Taehyung snicker next to you. "You don't have to go, I'll just tell him you're busy or something."

"Nah, it's fine. I told you I'll go." he tells you, turning his eyes back to the screen causing you to roll your eyes at him in annoyance.

"No, I'm serious. Don't feel like you've to go with me because I complained to you that I don't want to go."

"Why would you not wanna go, Y/N?" Taehyung whines, "You're such a party pooper. Hello, get all the free booze and food, maybe you'll fancy some of the new partners, I bet they're all rich guys."

"Yes, rich guys in their fifties," you roll your eyes at Taehyung, "It's not like I don't wanna go--"

"You specifically said you don't want to socialize with your co-workers and bunch of strangers, you also hate to be on your own at these kinds of things," Jungkook remarks, causing you to glare at him as the two of your other friends start to laugh.

You shrink in embarrassment. Okay, maybe you've said the socializing part but it's true. It's not like you don't like your co-workers or something, but there are many people working in the company and you're really not in the mood to stand in the heels and act all posh when you could be laying home, well Jungkook's home, and eating and looking like a pig with no effort needed.

"Plus, I don't have any plans anyway and it kinda sounds fun." Jungkook shrugs.

He's always been a little bit more outgoing than you, he likes to occupy himself and be busy no matter what that means. He's usually very productive and for exchange, he actually doesn't mind meeting new people and mingling around. But you get it, it actually could bring a good job opportunity for him – even though he doesn't need it, because he's mostly booked for every day and if not, he's busy editing all the photos he had taken.

"Okay, well, you're invited so it's up to you," you end it with that, hearing Jungkook hum before he triumphantly yells at finding a good movie which startles you, but as always your glare gets ignored as everyone gets comfortable.

Reaching for the blanket abandoned next to Jungkook, you cover yourself and lean your head against Taehyung's shoulder. Finally as the first scene starts to play, everyone keeps silent but not until you and Taehyung start to bicker because of the blanket. In the end, Taehyung wins and you're forced to share it with him, both of you shushed by annoyed Jimin and Jungkook.

Sometime in the middle of the movie, a bottle of wine is opened and you slowly sip on it throughout it, finding an amazing comfort in the form of Taehyung's shoulders and Jungkook's lap where your legs lay. Sheepishly, you've urged Jungkook to massage your feet which he refused but your constant and very persistent look convinced him.

Everything feels cozy, causing you to get slightly drowsy especially once the lights are off and the only light illuminates from the screen. Surely, the wine in your system has something to do with your tiredness and slight tipsiness you realize at your usual tipsy behavior.

However, Jimin and Taehyung don't look any different as they finally stretch themselves once the credits roll and Jungkook turns the lights on. He offers them to stay over but they both refuse, both of them having plans in the morning apparently. So you both walk them to the front door, bidding goodbye and not avoiding Taehyung's teasing.

"Look at them, they look like a married couple, shoving us out."

Jimin snickers and you roll your eyes at the obvious tipsy Taehyung who gives you a boxy grin and very tight hug that makes you slap his back.

"You could've stayed, you dumbass," you tell Taehyung, moving to Jimin as you hug him.

"Don't listen to him, he's just babbling nonsense as usual." Jimin says, both of you laughing before they walk out of Jungkook's apartment and go to their awaiting cub in front of the building.

It feels very odd – knowing you're staying here and it's not the usual type of sleepover or necessary staying over like usual. But still, you find comfort in Jungkook's place of knowing it for so long so it doesn't feel uncomfortable or anything close to it.

You're in the kitchen washing the used glasses when Jungkook comes into the kitchen, throwing empty packages to the bin that were left on the coffee table.

"I'd clean it tomorrow, don't worry about it." he tells you, standing next to you as he leans against the counter, watching you washing the last glass.

"Come on, it's nothing," you tell him with a chuckle, turning off the water as Jungkook already grabs the kitchen cloth and wipes all the glasses.

You mimic his previous pose, leaning yourself while Jungkook takes care of the washed dishes and both of you fall into a casual conversation that turns into a giggle fit thanks to your tipsiness. Jungkook looks tipsy as well, although not as giggly like you but his face is slightly flushed and his eyes have that spark, the kind of spark he has whenever he drinks.

Once everything is taken care of, Jungkook scurries to take a shower since you so kindly let him take it first. Informing him you've to take out some of your needed stuff anyway, you hear the door being closed. Deeply in thoughts and in the middle of pulling out your cosmetic bag, you gasp at the spilled make-up in it and your hands being covered in the foundation that had to be closed, not good enough. Groaning, you grow annoyed at yourself for letting such a mistake happen especially when the brand isn't as cheap as you'd like it to be. It's everywhere, almost spilling onto the floor but you quickly wipe it off into your (thankfully) old shirt.

In the midst of your tipsy annoyance, you naturally walk towards the bathroom, ready to have an explanation ready for Jungkook and your sudden appearance in the bathroom. Clumsily, you somehow manage to open the door with your elbow without getting anything dirty.

"Sorry, sorry, I spilled some of my foundation and it's everywhere," you automatically call out to Jungkook, noticing he's already in shower and one peek at his naked backside, you quickly move towards the sink.

"Suit yourself," Jungkook calls out amusingly, causing you to glance across your shoulder to find him in the same position with a smirk on his lips.

Turning around, your face gets hot and it's definitely not from the slowly creating steam of the warm water, you rub your hands clean with a good amount of soap. Once your hands are clean, you groan at your shirt still being messed up. Taking another peek at Jungkook, you see he is turned with his back to you, the glass of the shower getting foggy not allowing you any other peek. Biting your lower lip, you giggle to yourself as something comes over to you (and you blame the wine) before you carefully take off the shirt and the rest of your homewear clothes.

Jungkook is completely clueless, head leaned back as in his tipsy mind he's trying to sober up thanks to the water in his face. So clueless that he doesn't notice you sneaking behind him, until he hears the shower door being pushed open which causes his head to tilt forward and open his eyes, glancing across his shoulder to find you there.

And fuck, you really are there. Standing with a sheepish grin, breasts completely bare for his eyes with the rest of your body and it takes everything for him not to eye you like a prey. For now, he settles on being confused at your sudden presence.

"Wanting to save up some water?" he jokes, eyes staying on your face respectfully as you inch towards him closer, hand holding his hip as you brush against him and reach for his scented shower gel.

"Uhm, you know, since I'm paying half of the rent now." you joke back, knowing you're nowhere paying half of the actual rent because Jungkook wouldn't allow it. Since this apartment is his and he's paying the mortgage monthly, you settled on paying the same amount you've paid for your old apartment.

It's the only solution the both of you agreed to, so you're fine with it. You have to be.

Squirting some of his shower gel into your palm, Jungkook offers to put it back into its place as you hand it to him and start washing yourself. And god, he is so distracted by you groping your breasts gently as you wash them, nipples perked up the whole time.

And then your eyes flicker to him, finding him watching you while the water drips down his buffed chest and abs, giving him a mere smirk before your hands are on your stomach. You're such a minx, Jungkook thinks because there is no way you've no idea what you're doing. You're so bold and turn into another version of you whenever the slightest amount of alcohol is involved and he is here for it. You're temptation, one that is so close to him and so freaking tempting.

So he plays the game, hands washing his own body and brushing against his firm abs, enjoying how you're watching him attentively, letting your eyes drop to his length. Even in its flaccid state, you can't help but feel your mouth water, up from his trail of hair and the soft patch of pubic hair to his complimenting length between his legs. He looks like a god, with water dripping down his body and hair slicked back, and you fight the urge to give him any more clue how much you want him. Not with your eyes though.

Turning around, you feel his eyes on your backside and as you look across your shoulder for perhaps the tenth time for the past few minutes, you find him already eyeing your ass. The way he looks at you sparks so much fire inside of you, it compliments you and instead of getting insecure about your body, you feel like the most confident woman on earth. Maybe it's the horniness and a little bit of alcohol as well, but you just know Jungkook has it in his eyes.

"Can you wash my back? I can't reach it," you ask him sweetly, both of you knowing it's such a lie and just your attempt of making him suffer even more.

"Of course you can't," Jungkook hums, amusement more than clear in his voice and if you turned around, you'd see it's on his face as well. But he takes the bait, accepting your attempt of making him touch you with open arms because not even two seconds later, you feel his hands on your back.

And he is so close, hand around your waist that tugs you closer to him and towards the stream of the water. At first, his hands are on your shoulders, massaging your tensed muscles as you sigh in content, enjoying how his hands feel like. Jungkook is sneaky, nowhere staying on your back and shoulders only because soon enough, he's cupping your breasts and squeezing them in his big palms, thumbs brushing over your nipples.

Gasping, you lean against him and your own hand shoots behind you, somehow meeting Jungkook's backside as you squeeze the soft but perky flesh. His hands are everywhere, moving down your stomach and even to your sides where it tickles which causes you to giggle, but it only lasts shortly because it's soon exchanged with a loud gasp of Jungkook's name.

The man behind you cups your sex, rubbing his fingers and finding it sleek between your thighs as he hums behind you. Your fingernails dig into the flesh of his asscheek, hips rolling into his hand shamelessly.

"Please," you beg, shamelessly again, "Jungkook."

"You want my fingers?" he asks with a soft but husky hum, lips against your temple as you nod eagerly.

"Yes, please, anything." Your breathless plea resounds between the shower walls, urging Jungkook to make a move with you giving him all the consent he needs.

Fuck, you swear you see starts once he finally slips one of his long fingers inside your cunt, taming your undying need for him just a little bit. He feels how tight and warm you are inside, almost forgetting how it feels and with each slow drag he makes with his finger, you let out a soft moan. Soon enough, you're beginning for more, wanting to be stretched out more because it is just not enough. And your pleas are enough for Jungkook to listen to you, adding another finger as he fingers you while the water keeps dripping down your heated bodies.

Your own hands sneaking between them, cupping his hardening cock, feeling another pinch of pleasure from just a single touch of his manhood.

"Washing, huh? Was this your plan all along?" he asks, suddenly hand cupping your jaw, turning your head towards him as you're met with his dark and hooded eyes causing your insides to shake with excitement, lust and another wave of pleasure.

"Not really, but it works." you breathe out, eyes falling onto his lips and he does the same.

The non-verbal plea unsaid between you two before your lips meet in a rushed and heated kiss, teeth clacking and tongues shamelessly in each other's mouth. Even after months of not touching you, Jungkook seems to know your body even better than yourself, in the midst of your making out he adds a third finger that makes you gasp, giving him a great opportunity to sneak his tongue into your mouth once again. He pumps his fingers, feeling your walls clench around him while your own hand starts pumping his length. The two of you pleasuring each other, until you have to pull away for an oxygen and you take that opportunity to touch Jungkook's chest and slightly push him to gain his attention.

"Take me to bed, Jungkook,"

You both know what that means and there could be many words exchanged, although he turns off the water and the two of you rush out of the shower. Jungkook hands you the towel, drying himself off messily the same way you do before you're already on your tiptoes kissing him. Arms wrapped around your waist, he backs you into the counter as he kisses you back, your whimpers heard between the kisses as his hands eagerly grab your ass.

Moving on, you're startled once Jungkook suddenly grabs you by your thighs and picks you up as if you weigh nothing, a soft yelp leaving your lips before his mouth is back on yours. Arms around his neck, he walks into his bedroom with you in his hold, lips messily kissing each other as he tries not to bump into anything on his way there. Naked, skin pressed against skin, you feel the slight cold whoosh of air hitting your bodies but Jungkook's warmth and fire flowing inside you make it almost unnoticeable.

The first moment as your back softly and slowly hits the mattress, you pry your eyes open and watch Jungkook hovering over you, seconds away from joining you as he holds himself up and starts kissing down your neck. His experienced and soft mouth leaves wet trails of kisses all over your chest, smooching your warm and in some places still damp skin. As soon as his mouth rounds around your nipple, you know you're done for and Jungkook proves it right because as soon as he sucks on your sensitive bud, his name leaves your mouth like an anthem. While Jungkook busies himself with your breasts, moving to another in a minute to give it proper attention and devoted time, your hands are all over his massive and strong back.

Whenever your fingernails put a slight pressure on his skin, you feel him groan against your breasts and hand sneaking between your thighs to rub you again. It's like whatever you do to make him good, Jungkook makes sure he does twice the amount to make you feel good. Head in the clouds, the pleas of having his fingers inside of you are almost unnoticed by you and you swear you're ready to confess the biggest love to him because he actually listens to you, and a second later his two fingers slide into you again. Surely, you're in a pure ecstasy that is so intertwined with lust and pleasure, you'd tell him anything. You've never craved for any man touch like you crave for Jungkook and you know it's because he knows you and your body exceptionally well.

Sure, in the middle of what is actually happening right now, you're aware that the man who is currently fingering you and sucking your breasts, is your best friend. And all the man you had sex with, a proper sex with, were your boyfriends and it does feel different. To have a sex with someone you're not in relationship with and weirdly enough, you don't care about none of it and maybe you feel even bigger excitement and lust. You're letting lust control you and you can't bring yourself to care. It feels too good.

Jungkook is too good.

And with him cherishing your body and giving you an incredible amount of pleasure, none of it matters at the moment and you don't even think about it.

"Ah, shit, yeah, right there." you moan out breathlessly, eyes thrown back when Jungkook's fingers brush against that good spot.

He curls his fingers inside you, body still hovering over you as you force yourself to look at him and enjoy the view in front of you. Bottom lip between his teeth and eyes focused on his hand, you almost burst, surrendering yourself to the pleasure. Grabbing Jungkook's shoulders, you squeeze them and give them a little tug to catch his attention and with a soft call (or more like a moan) you get it, his eyes flickering to yours.

"I want you, fuck me Jungkook."

Jungkook swears his dick twitches at your innocent tone but such a dirty request at the same time. Still, he searches your face and brows slightly pinched together in a slight uncertainty.

"Are you sure?" he asks, fingers sliding out of you causing you to clench around nothing and almost whimper in disappointment.

"Do I seem unsure?" you answer sassily, showing your mere annoyance which causes him to chuckle as he suddenly straightens himself.

Shamelessly ranking down his chest and stopping at his hard dick, you bite your lip and cock your head forward to usher him. He chuckles amusingly before he reaches towards his nightstand and just that already makes you too greedy and excited.

The sight of a foil package in Jungkook's hands, you're brought back to all those times you've had that opportunity to see this exact view, and you're too close to bring your own hand between your thighs but you know you'd never done such a good job like Jungkook. He rips it open, pulling out the condom as you watch him through the entire process of putting it on and down his thick hardened length.

You feel more wetness gush from you, most likely staining Jungkook's fresh sheets and it reminds you how messy sex actually is. He gives himself a few testing tugs, eyes focused on his own hand and cock before they flicker to yours. He knocks the breath off you. His hair wet from the shower falling into his eyes, causing him to bring the other hand to brush his fingers through his raven black hair to push it back. Abs and muscles flexing with each movement he makes, while his dark lusted eyes stare right back at you.

"How do you want it?"

Ignoring the way your pussy clenches at those words, you stretch yourself slightly causing Jungkook's eyes to fall down your body for a moment.

"However you want me," you breathe out, "Just fuck me."

"On your knees, ass up," Jungkook commands right away, excitement shooting through your entire body as you catch the happy shriek that wants to get out.

Turning on your stomach, you barely get on your knees as you feel Jungkook's arm under you, wrapped around your stomach as he hoists you up, other hand pressing against your back and adding a slight pressure. It causes your forehead to press against the soft sheets and mattress, ass perched up for Jungkook's eyes to see.

His hand and fingers are back on your pussy, rubbing it slowly and spreading more wetness. "So swollen," he murmurs behind you, causing you to clench embarrassingly as a soft chuckle resounds behind you.

"You want me to stretch you more?" he asks, still entering you with three fingers while expecting your answer.

And he gets it, at first in the form of a shake of your head. "No, fuck me, please."

"You sure?" he asks, tone turning dubious for a second.

Despite your neediness, he still adds a fourth finger that makes you groan at the stretch, voice muffled thanks to the mattress. "Yeah, sure." you gasp, causing him to laugh a little behind you.

"I don't know, babe," he teases you, "Are you sure you can take me?"

Even in your current state, you can't help but scoff at him. "I've had sex after and before you, Jeon."

With one movement, his fingers are gone and before you can whine, the impact of his hand against the ass cuts you off and you gasp at the sudden slap.

"Don't get smart on me," he scoffs back, "As much as I wanna fuck you, I don't wanna hurt you."

You turn around your head slightly, enough to catch a slight glimpse of Jungkook's face. "Just go slow, it should be fine."

"As you wish," Jungkook mumbles, giving your ass a decent slap.

The tip of his cock grazes over your pussy, poking your clit causing you to whimper needily Jungkook's name. The first second when his tip slowly enters you, your mouth falls open and you swear you're ready to cum right here and there. But Jungkook decides to tease you, or at least that's what you think, when he enters you and pulls out before another inch can make it inside.

"Jungkook," you pout, moving your ass towards Jungkook but all you're met is another slap to your right asscheek.

"Be patient," He has the audacity to scold you and understandably, your annoyance starts to come to the surface. "You haven't been properly fucked, have you?"

"What?" you breathe out, heart picking up its pace because he has hit the nail in the head with this one. And you've no idea what gave it away, maybe he just deduces it by the obvious neediness you're exposing right now.

"Come on, just look at you," he chuckles amusingly, tip entering you again as he pushes his length into you.

Gasping, you grip the sheets and hold them tightly in your hands, feeling your hole stretch around him and the pressure isn't the most comfortable feeling, but you're more than eager to take him. However, Jungkook doesn't push in fully and if you could turn around, you'd see his cock is barely inside you.

"You're so needy, like a little slut," he says huskily, suddenly leaning towards you that you feel his chest brush against your back before his mouth hovers over your cheek. You realize he's checking for your reaction and you're automatically remembered the only and the first time he has called you that. Slut.

He made sure you were okay with that the morning after and the simple thought of that makes your heart swell at his thoughtfulness. And again, being degraded isn't your thing because you're proud and want to appear self-confident. It's the exact opposite of what being degraded feels like. But somehow, weirdly enough, the fact that Jungkook says it the way he does and in the middle of sex, you don't mind how degrading that is. You love it because it's safe to say, you're slut only for him.

"Yes, for you," you whisper, gasping when Jungkook enters you with another inch, your mouth falling open right away at the sensual feeling of being stretched.

"Not for anyone else?" he hums, your mind somewhere else to be fully grasping what he's asking you but somehow you manage, nodding right away.

"No," you choke out, wanting to feel no one else but Jungkook.

He pulls out, not fully just enough to let his tip in as he starts sliding back in, this time even deeper than before.

"Good," he whispers into your ear, straightening as he grabs your hips and starts pushing all of him in. "You good? It doesn't hurt?" he asks, voice slightly strained as he fights off the urge to thrust into you.

"No, just go slow." you tell him, not hearing any response from him but if you could see him, you'd notice him giving a soft nod as he obeys and tries to go slowly.

He's careful with each inch, your soft gasps lead him to continue until he's fully buried inside you. Your walls are burning, not used to the sudden stretch because it's been a while. Having sex and even more than a while having Jungkook inside you. And you can't believe this is finally happening, excitement and eagerness coming right back as you wiggle your ass, silently telling Jungkook to move and he does. He listens to you and his own body, thrusting in and out slowly and carefully.

Thanks to your wetness, you're lubricated enough to take him and find it just as enjoyable as he does. His hands grip you even tighter, hips moving faster when you beg him to and even though you're not screaming your lungs out, your soft moans and whimpers and occasional Jungkook's name being moaned out, it coaxes Jungkook to move faster and deeper. He's so hard inside you, hitting your spot deliciously.

The evident sounds skin on skin echoes in your ears and around Jungkook's bedroom and he takes no mercy on you, fucking you just like you plea him to in your ecstatic state. He feels good, too good to be true and you feel yourself clenching around him even more tightly, almost whining that you're already ready to cum.

You can't hold it back any further, cursing loudly as the tight knot in your stomach frees and you're cumming around him.

"Fuck," Jungkook curses behind you, feeling you clenching around him repeatedly – therefore getting even more tighter to the point it's getting harder for him to move. "Fuck baby, you gotta relax,"

And you do because if one thing can relax you and get you all feral during sex, it's being called baby by him.

"You okay with--"

"Keep going," you cut him off, Jungkook momentarily pausing as he grabs your ass and pushes your asscheeks apart, getting a good view of your pussy swallowing him.

And it's enough for him to listen to you all over again, ramming his hips into you causing his balls to hit your swollen clit which makes your head spin and gives another wave of pleasure to your tired body that is still recovering from your first orgasm.

"You're gonna give me another one, huh?" Jungkook asks through clenched teeth, fingers digging into your hips so tightly that they might bruise later but the extra added pain adds just the right amount to your already existing pleasure and to the tingle between your legs.

"Kook," That's all you manage to say, not being able to properly give him an answer because your already swollen and sensitive heat is close to the second orgasm.

"Shit," Jungkook curses, head tilted back and eyes screwed shut because as soon as he feels your second orgasm, he feels his balls tightening and he knows he's just seconds from cumming too.

You're groaning and so is he, in his own little and silent way, and once your own body aches from the position and two mind-blowing orgasms, you're whimpering from overstimulation because you're not sure if you can take another, in this case, third orgasm.

"I know, I know," Jungkook grunts, right before a growl makes its way out of his mouth and he's finally cumming, chasing his own high.

He fills up the condom, thrusts slowing down until they halt. Your rushed and loud breaths can be heard in the room, echoing through the walls as Jungkook slowly pats your ass before slowly pulling out. You cringe at the feeling but miss him inside you right away, the empty feeling making you pout. But as soon as Jungkook's cock is out of you, your whole body fails you and you fall onto your back, met with the ceiling.

"Fuck," you tell for the hundreth time today, hand on your forehead as you're trying to catch a breath.

Jungkook grins, slowly backing away as he disposes himself off the condom, carefully trying not to spill anything out. You're so spaced out that you barely acknowledge him leaving the room for a moment, grabbing one of his used towels as he cleans himself before he joins you.

"Well, we didn't take long," he chuckles, "to have sex, I mean."

You almost jump when you feel a cloth being pressed against your swollen sex, Jungkook's sparkly dark eyes watching you amusingly as he cleans you.

"That was the best sex I had in a while," you comment, still blunt and mind completely blown by the orgasm, no orgasms, that Jungkook has gifted you with.

"Thanks,"

Looking at Jungkook, you find him grinning, body lazily and exhaustedly falling next to you as you just as lazily slap him on the chest.

"You're so cocky," you comment, biting onto your lower lip and still drowning in your post-orgasm state. Hell, your thighs ache so much already and you're sure your back is starting to hurt too, but it was definitely worth it.

"Uhm," he hums, not disagreeing with you as he suddenly throws his arm around you and cuddles into your chest. He pecks your breasts which causes you to squeal and laugh at the same time, his hair tickling you on your neck.

"And clingy too apparently."

The little slap he gives to your breast almost knocks the breath out of you, your mouth shut completely. It's not too hard to the point it hurts, in fact you've barely felt it but enough to acknowledge and understand his response to you.

"You wore me out, woman," Jungkook chuckles, closing his eyes and you lay there for a moment, bodies still hot to feel cold. And surprisingly, it's very warm in Jungkook's bedroom which stinks of sex and it only reminds you that the two of you smell of it as well.

However, both lazy and practically unable to move, you don't even mind that you're just laying there completely naked. Plus, Jungkook's body next to you warms you well enough for now.

"You should go pee," he mumbles sleepily all of a sudden, reminding you as you whine childishly causing him to chuckle. He lays there for a moment before he suddenly plops onto his elbows and gives you a stern look. "Come on, don't be lazy now."

"You wore me out, man," you joke, the two of you laughing as Jungkook tries to hoist you up while you childishly protest.

"We should probably take another shower," he reminds you, which causes you to whine even more but you know he's right. You don't necessarily stink of sweat but the scent of sex and the wetness between your thighs isn't something you want to go to bed with – to sleep of course.

"Fine," you grumble, "Can I sleep in this bed though?" you pout cutely and how could Jungkook resist. Plus, it's not like he wasn't planning to offer you his bed.

"Sure, I'll take the couch." he says, standing up as he walks up to his dresser and pulls out some fresh clothes which he drapes over his shoulder, still fully naked when he gives you a stern look.

"You don't have to do that," you tell him, stretching some more before you force yourself to stand up. "We can just share the bed, I mean you, we just had a sex, so... and besides, we usually share the bed."

"Yeah, but you're living here now... so I wasn't sure if that wouldn't be crossing--"

"It's not, I'm cool with it," you assure him, "Are you?"

"Yeah, I am," he assures you back and you shrug effortlessly at him to prove the point, brushing past him but not before he slaps your ass again.

Glaring at him but deep down loving it, you're met with a mischievous bunny grin as you make your way to the bathroom, warning Jungkook to let you pee in peace because that man is capable of anything.

"You sneaked in while I was taking a shower!" he calls after you, an amused tone vibrating in his voice as you giggle.

"That's different!" you call back, finally shutting the door.

"Different how?!"

You don't answer, although the only thing Jungkook can hear are your giggles which causes him to shake his head at you while a soft smile makes it on his lips.

Thursday comes fast, despite the extra hours you had to spend at work, and living with Jungkook for almost a week seems to pass even faster. It does feel weird from time to time but at the same time, you've grown used to the routine and the feeling of having a roommate.

The morning after you had sex, Jungkook left you a note and actually prepared a breakfast for you which was covered with a cloche. He really put a number on you, letting you deal with proper muscle pain but despite that, the two of you worked completely fine and things haven't been weird.

Living with Jungkook is different from the times where you used to just sleepover at his place, whatever the reason was behind it. And that's because Jungkook's week is even busier than yours. He barely wakes up at the same time like you do, by the time your alarm starts blasting in your ears, Jungkook's side of the bed is cold and he's already out. He comes home late, exhausted but still finds the time to go to the local gym to have his work-out, whining like a baby when he misses one day.

Still, there are nights when you catch a movie together until one of you falls asleep, and wakes up the other before you both scurry to the bedroom. At least, your bed is in Jungkook's office at the moment, the second room he uses to work on his photos or play games on a computer. However, the bed is disassembled and no matter how many times you've told Jungkook you'll just call someone to put it together, he insists he'll do it. But with his busy schedule, the pieces of wood are leaned against the wall with a few boxes of yours in the office.

Seriously, you've no idea how he'll make it work but you lost the interest to argue with him again. Or more like bicker. Jungkook is stubborn and persistent, so are you, but you're happy to even have a place to sleep at so you usually just wave him off which he seems to like.

It's very rare for you to be just quiet and not argue back, so he feels like he has the upper hand.

Overall, you realize you've been stressing out over this whole living thing together. So far, it's not bad at all (not that you thought it'll be bad), it was more about your guilt which to be honest you still have. Jungkook's office is soon going to be turned into your room slash his remaining office. Sometimes he works on his computer late at night, sometimes until early morning and there it is, that feeling of guilt of taking up all of his space.

Kook: when are you coming home? I'm not sure if I should cook something for dinner or order

Your phone chirps with a new notification, a message from Jungkook as you sit in your car.

"Idk, I'm actually going out with Maya... she texted me during the day, she wants to celebrate their engagement"

You wait for his reply which comes a minute after. He has to be home early. Surprisingly, when you were waking up for work today Jungkook was still in bed soundlessly asleep. So you've made yourself breakfast and left something for him too, since whoever wakes up first usually makes breakfast for both of you. It's not something you've discussed purposely, it was just a pure want to reciprocate his kindness of relieving you of having to spend extra minutes making yourself breakfast. Plus, you think it's his way of making sure you will eat proper food in the morning, knowing your ways of barely putting anything in your stomach in the early hours.

"But whatever you decide make sure you leave me some leftovers ;)" "I'm not sure if we'll eat something while we're out, I think she just wants to drink to celebrate"

When the last time you and Maya hung out, the time when she announced her engagement to you, she was talking about some kind of massive celebration in a club which to be honest, you weren't a complete fan of because you have enough of those with Taehyung. However, you weren't about to decline her since she seemed to be excited about it and she just got engaged. Plus, she's your friend, a new friend at that, so you just went with it.

But you're both busy with work and it's hard to align your schedules. She actually wanted to meet during the weekend but since there's a party at your work on Friday, you're not sure how many other parties you'll be able to do. You'd really like to spend the weekend at home, Jungkook's home, preferably cuddling to a blanket on his soft and huge couch and using the advantage of his massive television screen – and all the technical things the man has because he clearly loves it and owns some of the best stuff.

You should be enjoying it, right? Since you're paying the rent.

You almost laugh at your thoughts, staring at the bubbles that appear on the screen, letting you know Jungkook is typing a response.

Kook: sure, have fun ;) just don't get too drunk

"It's Thursday, you seriously think I'm gonna get drunk during the week? >.&lt;"

Kook: anything is possible when it comes to you

"I'm gonna think of it as a compliment"

Kook: not what I had in mind but sure, suit yourself

"I can't even drink alcohol because I'm driving, I think we'll just toast with champagne and stick to non alcoholic drinks for the rest of the night"

Surely not what Maya had in mind at first, but what can you do. You've got to work with what you have.

Kook: oh that's right

Kook: btw, thanks for the breakfast ;)

"returning the favor ;P" "I'll text you when I'm coming back, gotta drive now"

Kook: okay, drive safely

You stop yourself from texting that one thing you'd usually do, biting into the inside of your cheek as you open the streaming app instead and turn on some music. Heart slightly cracking, you quickly drive out of the parking lot before you can feel bad and sad all over again.

Jungkook is doing okay, you tell yourself and focus on the driving instead.

"How's living with Jungkook?"

Maya doesn't waste her time, dropping the question she has been curious about ever since you ordered the mentioned glass of champagne. Giving her a knowing look, you set the glass down after taking a decent sip.

"Good?" you tell her unsurely, "I can't complain, Jungkook is great."

"Uhm, I'm sure he is," she giggles, met with your raised brow and pursed lips. "Namjoon told me apparently you've been indecisive about living with him at first." she says more calmly, finally stopping to give you a look that seems as if she knew something you don't know. She's just teasing when it comes to Jungkook, definitely not the first person to do that.

"And how does Namjoon know about that?" you hum, plopping your elbow onto the table as you place your chin on your palm, eyes expectedly watching her.

"Jungkook told him when they went out the other day," She waves her hand, "It was before you moved in, actually." she adds and you nod.

So you explain to her your feelings and thoughts about it, while she nods the whole time along your words attentively listening to you until you end it that you're happy about your decision because overall, it's the best option you had.

It feels easy to talk about it to another person, to someone that is not involved in it as much as perhaps Jimin and Taehyung are. Not that you mind that, not at all! In a way, you think Maya is more blunt with you than one of your friends would be, even though they're awfully honest they still care about your feelings a lot. Maya does too but still, she's your new friend and a woman, seeing things slightly differently.

Overall, she agrees with everything anyone has said to you so far and she's just another factor that makes you think; It's not that serious or deep, just enjoy it and let him help you.

The place she has chosen for you to meet feels comfortable and intimate at the same time, thanks to the dim lighting. It's more on the posh side which surprises you, especially some of the prices for a simple drink but luckily, you both stick to non-alcohol drinks for the rest of the night since both of you have to drive back home. You've never been in this place and like Maya reveals, she has been coming here with Namjoon for date nights when they're not particularly aiming for the dinner date.

Somehow, the conversation about two lovebirds that are about to be married, actually very soon since Maya says they're already planning it and want to get married this year, brings you to your own love life. You don't feel uncomfortable talking about it, not even when you bring Haneul and the coincidence of you meeting at the same club, not leaving the fact Jungkook already punched him.

"Jungkook is something else, I swear," Maya giggles, obviously getting excited at the thought of Jungkook punching your ex-boyfriend for you. "But I think he had done the right thing, you said Haneul was coming on to you and even though you were confused about it, he should have asked you before being intrusive."

"I'm glad Jungkook had stepped in," you admit, "I don't know what I'd have done if he wasn't there."

That catches Maya's attention even more, catching onto the hidden meaning behind what you've just said.

"Do you think you'd be able to sleep with him?"

"Who?" you blurt out, eyes wide as soon as that leaves your mouth and Maya's look just the same as she gives you a glance with a grin.

"Haneul, of course," she responds, "Wait, did you think about Jungkook?"

"What? No!" you protest right away, shrinking into the stool you're sitting on but it's too late.

Realization crosses on Maya's face and she gasps, "Were you so... heated," She tries to find the right word. "Because of Jungkook?"

"No?" you murmur, looking away but it's too pointless to deny it. Maya is a smart woman, and apparently she reads you easily but it's your fault for not being able to lie and deny the obvious.

"Girl, I don't blame you," she says, pursing her lips and doing a hand gesture as she leans back.

You clear your throat, almost choking on your spit.

"What? Jungkook is obviously hot and sorry to mention this, but you guys have a history,"

You know she's aiming at the fact that you and Jungkook hooked up which she knows because of what happened on the trip on New Year.

"Come on, it makes sense and there's nothing wrong with that. You can't control how hot somebody is and when that somebody looks like Jungkook at that, it makes you want to jump his bones."

"Maya!" you scold her, looking around to make sure nobody heard her but luckily, the tables are quite far away from one another.

"It's true!" she laughs, definitely not scandalized by what she has just said out loud. You can't blame her, she is right. "You're both single, so you fucked and what? You're both young and are getting along perfectly."

She's one of a kind for sure.

Her words do bring some sort of comfort to you. Your friendship with Jungkook is too precious to you and she makes it sound so easy, which currently feels like since your friendship remains unaffected.

"You're smart people, have sex and fun!" she suggests, almost exclaims and apparently, you do some kind of face, brows shooting up as you nod awkwardly, and it doesn't take too long for Maya to gasp loudly, almost knocking down the stool with her. "No way!"

"Maya--"

"What the fuck," Her lips spread into the widest smile, the one where she shows her perfect teeth and her big plump lips stretch. "You guys are hooking up again, aren't you?"

Guilty and busted, you don't answer but there is no need to because it's more than obvious.

"We just--got in the moment after what happened at the club and we--we didn't have sex that night!" you quickly point out, "After I woke up the next morning, Jungkook was actually very cool about it and he..." you stop, shaking your head embarrassingly as Maya nods, already getting the idea of what must've happened. "And then we haven't seen each other because we were busy but as I moved in, the first night--"

"Oh my god!" she squeals, "You guys did it the first night you moved in? You beasts!"

"Maya!" you shush her, not being able to hold back a giggle as she joins you. "It's not like we're having sex every day. We haven't had it since that night." you shrug.

"So? You can still have it whenever you both want," she shrugs, "Y/N," she calls out your name and once you look up at her, you find her giving you a genuine and relaxed smile. "I want you to know that I'm in no way shaming you. You're not doing anything bad, you're allowed to have fun and like I said, you and Jungkook are smart people. You wouldn't do this if you weren't sure about it."

You smile back at her, giving her a slight nod. "Yes, I think you're right," Her smile widens. "But... could you please perhaps keep it to yourself?" you ask unsurely, knowing there's a high chance she would tell Namjoon.

They're dating, no, engaged for god's sake! You and Jungkook tell yourselves things you swear you won't tell anyone else. You can't imagine they're not doing it too.

"I won't tell anyone," she assures you, "Not even Namjoon, I promise."

Namjoon is not the biggest problem, it's just a very intimate thing and you definitely don't want the whole friend group to know your and Jungkook's business.

You talk for another hour or so, luckily changing the topic to their wedding as Maya shows you some of the pictures she saved for inspiration. Meanwhile, she asks you if you'd accompany her to her wedding dress shopping which you gladly accept. The date is unknown yet but you're more than happy to be a part of such an incredible part of her life.

Coming home later than you'd expect, you're met with lights turned off and the faint sounds of television being turned on as you close the front door. Shrugging the blazer off along with your shoes, you walk to the living room to find Jungkook slouched on the couch, his legs resting on the coffee table as he watches some action movie.

"You're back?" he asks, voice slightly tired as he fumbles his eyes and straightens.

You greet him, grinning as you join him and plop on the space next to him. "Uhm," you tell him, tiredly throwing your leg over him and cuddling up to him.

He chuckles at you, "How was it?"

"Nice," you mumble into his chest, welcomed by the floral scent of him. "Maya asked me to help her pick the wedding dress for her." And she might know about you and me, but you don't tell him that.

You feel like eventually you will but for now, it's not that important information.

"Really?" Jungkook asks, voice quiet and light. "Have you eaten something? I ordered from that Italian restaurant we tried before, I got you the tomato sauce ones you like. It's probably cold by now, so just heat it up."

"God, I love you," you whine dramatically causing him to laugh as his chest vibrates. "We had some appetizers but no actual dinner."

"Then go eat," he ushers you, gently slapping your ass a few times as you groan at him.

Lifting your head up, you look at Jungkook whose face is illuminated by the television screen, the shadows constantly changing by each scene that plays on it. He glances at you, the corner of his lips lifted up and you fight off the urge to kiss him, your growling stomach interrupting you. So you stand up, wanting to cuddle up to him while he preferably rubs your back because you're tired as hell and never can say no to a good back rubbing

"Hey," Jungkook calls out once you're turned back to him and you look at him across your shoulder. "Is there any dress code for tomorrow night?"

Ah, the party Jungkook is invited to. "Nothing specific, just wear something elegant and nice but nothing fancy." you shrug and he gives you a thumbs up.

You still have your stomach to satisfy, being reminded of the party tomorrow once again. Luckily, all of you are working less hours, having enough time to get prepared while the party will be held in a local place which business men usually hire for this kind of occasion.

You're falling asleep with a stomach full, freshly out of the shower and Jungkook sleeping on the other side of the bed. The comfortable silence and soft bed lulls you to sleep in a record time.

Being reminded by Junho not to be late at every opportunity had to take almost all of your remaining energy, causing the rest of the staff to complain silently behind his back. Luckily for some of them, not everyone is required to be there but since you deal with other model agencies, making sure everything goes smoothly and on time, communicating with people, your presence there is mandatory. Not officially though, but you've no plans of having to deal with grumpy and mad Junho if you decided not to attend at the last minute.

Dragging your feet towards the front door, you're immediately welcomed by the pleasant scent of Jungkook's home as you enter. After undressing and taking off your shoes, you find Jungkook in the bedroom, greeted briefly by him as he stares with a frown at his bed where some of his shirts and button-ups are displayed.

"What do you think?" he asks as you put down your purse and plop onto bed, causing some of his shirts to get slightly crinkled as Jungkook scolds you.

Ignoring him, you plop onto your elbows and look at the clothes. "Literally whatever," you shrug, "Everything looks nice."

Rolling his eyes, obviously not finding you being any help he mutters something under his breath. Not wanting to waste any more time, although laying in the bed after an exhausting day despite you leaving early is too strong, you force yourself to stand up.

The shower is quick and so is your ability to take off your make-up, just to do it again. You're busy and so is Jungkook apparently, both of you doing your own thing while you prepare for the evening, so when you actually bump into him after finally making it out of the shower – your breath is taken away.

Completely ignoring the fact that you stand there in your underwear, forgetting your outfit which is hanging in Jungkook's closet, you're speechless as Jungkook wears his usual black slacks with blue striped shirt where his sleeves are rolled up, exposing more of his tattoos. The buttons are not buttoned all the way up, exposing a good amount of chest but not too much for it to be scandalized. Whether he wants to leave it like that or button more of it, he looks handsome as ever.

"Tie or no tie?" he asks, turning around to face you, his eyes momentarily dropping down your body.

You're heated under his gaze, but somehow remain unaffected in terms of Jungkook seeing you like this a few times by now.

"No tie," you answer, walking to his closet and pulling out your baby pink slacks with a matching blazer and a white blouse that has been ironed thoroughly by you. "What do you think?" you ask, showing him the outfit that is hanging on a hanger, although he can't exactly see it clearly.

Turning around, you catch him shamelessly letting his eyes linger on your exposed ass and as he meets your gaze, he has the decency to quirk up his lips in a light smirk.

Playfully rolling your eyes at him, you look at the outfit. "At first I was going to wear a dress but I feel like I wear them every time I attend these kinds of parties and events," you tell him, thinking out loud at the same time.

It looks more formal and different than your usual choice of outfit, but you like it.

"I'm sure you'll look great," Jungkook tells you, waving you off, "But tell me about that lingerie. Is it new?"

"Jungkook!" you exclaim, laughing as he shrugs the same shameless style. Ignoring him, you turn with your back to him, looking for any possible creases before you still have the time to iron it in case it's not completely ironed.

Completely oblivious to Jungkook's approaching figure, you get startled when he gently grabs you by your hips and presses his face into the crook of your neck, tickling you with his hair as you scold him. His touch sets another blazing fire through your entire body, shooting straight between your thighs and it takes everything from you to not press them together.

"What are you saying, a quickie?"

Is he serious right now? You have to get prepared, you like to be on time and not rush yourself when you don't have to. Besides, you'd like to grab a bite of something before you leave. Surely, there will be food but you're there for business, not for stuffing your face with food.

"You're unbelievable," you tell him, scoffing but gasping when he delivers a soft smooch on your neck, hands playing with the hem of your thong. Not the most comfortable underwear, but they make no lines with the slacks you want to wear which is very convenient right now.

What is not convenient to have sex when you're supposed to be there in an hour.

"So? What are you saying?" Jungkook hums, hands still lingering on your burning skin that is scented with his shower gel because you still haven't bought your own. Although, he respectfully doesn't move them any further but enough to tease you and almost cause you to meowl under his touch.

"I just did my make-up," you complain, not moving an inch despite your mouth saying something else. Jungkook notices, lips curling into a silent smirk.

"So? I won't touch your face,"

You snort, knowing it has nothing to do with him touching your face. Sex with Jungkook is messy and hell of a ride, there's no way you'll look presentable enough after that.

"We're already dressed," you try to argue, "There's no time for sex."

"I can be quick," he offers, "Come on, gorgeous. Just bend over for me,"

"Fuck, Jungkook," you breathe out, another wave of heat rushing through you. "Don't say things like that."

"What exactly?" he smiles.

"All of it," you tell him, turning around as you press your hands against his chest, cursing how hard and warm it feels beneath them. "Did the sight of my underwear turn you on?" you tease, trying to somehow get through this without you actually having sex.

Not that you don't want to. You do. So fucking much, but there's just no time for it.

"The sight of you," Jungkook says, inching closer while you start to back away, met with his lips spreading into a grin while he eyes you like a prey. "And maybe your lingerie too, you look hot."

And then he sneaks his hand to your backside, grabbing onto the soft flesh of your asscheek once he's pressed against you, your whole body against the dresser while the edge is digging into your lower back.

"We can have sex when we come home," you offer, breath hitching as Jungkook's another hand does the same thing to your other cheek, spreading them apart as you feel the thin stripe of your thong rubbing against your sex. "We don't have time for another shower."

"I'm gonna be quick, we'll barely break a sweat."

And you're ready to argue, tell him that you'll probably smell like sex and you're about to meet business, important people and you can't walk around smelling like that. But Jungkook pokes his inner cheek with his tongue, eyes tingling with lust and mischief almost as if he knew you're losing this and fuck, he looks so hot your walls contract around nothing and the thought of his dick inside of you wants you to shiver.

"Quick, alright," you tell him, voice already strained as Jungkook nods with a grin and quickly backs away to grab the condom from his nightstand. His lips curl into a frown for a moment when it's the last one, the empty box of condoms tossed onto the nightstand near his lamp.

He joins you in no time, standing in his previous position as he starts unzipping his slacks, exposing the white boxers with a tent growing in them. You don't bother to take off the poor excuse of an underwear, the thong barely doing any job to hide your cunt and they give Jungkook great access.

"No foreplay though," you tell him, his eyes flickering to you as his head is held low to focus on his task of pulling down his boxers.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, there's no time for that. You said quick." you quote him. He knows he did, but there's an unsure frown decorating his pink pouty lips.

"It's gonna burn like hell," he warns you, but you already know all of that.

Your wetness is already too close to drip down your legs and before you can tell Jungkook not to worry about that, even mentioning you should be wet enough, he leaves your side for another moment as he pulls out the lube from where he keeps the condoms.

The moment Jungkook is back and fishes his cock out, you salivate at the angry red tip and veins poking underneath the skin. It's safe to say you're baffled whether to get on your knees and please him instead, although you don't want to be robbed of your own orgasm and of the feeling of his cock stretching your walls.

The sight of Jungkook putting on the condom down his length is never boring, always captivating that makes your thirst for him even worse. He squirts a good amount of lube down his standing and hard cock, the faint scent of strawberries hitting your nose.

"You sure you don't want my fingers at least?" Jungkook asks, throwing you an unsure glance as he suddenly grabs you by your thighs, hoisting you up on his dresser.

Gasping, you look around wondering if the piece of furniture will be able to hold you. It looks like it will and Jungkook spreading your legs catches your attention once again, hands squeezing your flesh to get the response out of you.

"No, just stick it in," you tell him honestly, grinning when you see the amused look on his face. "Fuck me, but you better be quick, I'm not kidding--ah--fuck,"

He doesn't play around, pushing your thong aside and replacing it with the tip of his cock, slowly pushing the head inside that makes you gasp and stop you in the midst of you talking. One hand holding onto his shoulder while the other grips the edge of the dresser, Jungkook starts pushing his entire cock inside you. He's not totally quick, still making sure he doesn't hurt you in the process.

You grunt, throwing your head back at the uncomfortable pressure his cock is causing, yet some of it feels arousing and thanks to the lube, he's entering you smoother and easier even without any preparation. His hand goes between your thighs, thumb circling your clit which automatically makes you relax and he slides in even easier, burying himself inside you to the halt.

"You good?" he asks, voice breathy as you nod eagerly, telling him to get on with it (literally).

And he does.

When he said he's going to be quick, he definitely didn't lie and although the first rounds of his thrusts are a little bit more careful, still quicker than usual, he picks up the pace with each thrust. You can barely take it, his thumb stimulating you while he hits your walls perfectly, angling his hips and cock so it brushes the great spot you've never known you had until Jungkook.

Explicit sounds of wetness and your skin thrusting against each other, you're thankful for Jungkook's body pressed against you and arms holding you by your thighs, making sure you don't slip off.

"Fuck, cunt so good," Jungkook grunts, your walls tightening around him which doesn't go unnoticed by him and causes him to groan. "You like that? You like when I talk about your cunt, huh?"

"Fuck," you curse, hand slipping off Jungkook's shoulder as you let it drop down his chest.

"How good it is, how warm and tight it feels?"

Shit, his dirty mouth is seriously going to be the death of you.

"You like the dirty talk?" he almost teases you, his thrusts and hips not faltering, not even for a second as he's knocking the breath out of you while the furniture shakes from the violent thrusts your bodies make.

Your orgasm is approaching quickly, you're not sure what prompted it to come so fast, whether it's his thrusts or dirty words spitting out of his mouth or both, it doesn't matter. But the enjoyment of reaching the end is quickly cut off from you as Jungkook stops, leaning face towards you as his lips brush against your cheekbone.

"Don't worry, I already knew that."

And he continues, ramming into you and acting upon his carnal desire. It's only a matter of seconds before you moan Jungkook's name in the short form, sounding almost too cute for Jungkook's liking because he's there fucking you and you call him that sweet nickname you've been calling him for years now. The knot snaps inside of you, wetness gushing out of you while Jungkook keeps fucking you, hard and quickly like he promised, grunting at the feeling of your walls clenching him repeatedly.

The thumb off your clit, he spreads your thighs even further apart and sets ruthless pace, rushing towards his own orgasm and with his balls tightening, he knows it's coming because a few more thrusts and he's finally coming, spurting and spilling all of his cum into the pink condom.

"Ah, shit," he curses silently, grunting, giving you a few slowed thrusts to ride through his orgasm.

And then he lets out the most pleased sigh, your fingers clutching the back of his head as he leans against your shoulder to take a few breaths. Your bodies heave with rushed breaths, slowly calming down from your post-ograsmic state.

"Was that quick enough?" he asks, tilting his head to look at you and you snort, a genuine giggle erupts from you before you playfully push him away.

"Shut up and help me get down," you tell him through a smile, Jungkook coming to the rescue as he does exactly what you ask of him.

On wobbly feet, you clutch onto him while ignoring the smug grin he has on his face. "Do I smell of sex?"

You suddenly ask, a heartful laugh resounding from Jungkook at your worries and the fact how serious you sound. "You don't," he tells you, leaning towards you to take a sniff to prove his point as he dramatically holds his head high and hums.

"I told you you'll barely break a sweat." he adds with a triumphal grin, moving to bin the condom.

He did say that. You might not reek of sex and sweat, but Jungkook's cologne is stuck on your skin and even after you dress up, and put your own fragrance on, somewhere in the distance you can still feel him on you.

But who said you mind that?

The place Junho chose looks amazing, indeed. It's huge with staff welcoming you and offering you champagne, which Jungkook accepts and hands you one of the glasses. Thanking him, you look around already recognizing some of the people you work with but there are also people from different departments. Junho definitely went all out to impress the future partners and you see him jumping between other groups of people, smiling all widely which is already a very rare sight to see.

Five minutes in and you're trying to hide your amused smile behind the glass of champagne, but it's not your fault though. It's what Yoongi's unimpressed and bored look does to you. Most of you probably feel the same way, or you for sure, you're just good at hiding it and not showing it in front of others like he does.

"This place looks posh," you comment, Jungkook humming next to you as he sips on the champagne, not wanting to drink tonight since he's driving you back home. You offered to pay for the cab but he declined, saying he doesn't mind driving.

You and him stand behind one of those small tall circle tables, looking around with no need to interact with others just yet. Surely, Junho will notice you and make you mingle through the crowd, making your presence useful. And that's why it's a blow to your ego once he spots you and Jungkook, excusing himself to an older couple before he makes his way to your direction, only for him to snatch Jungkook.

Jungkook throws you a look across his shoulder, both in amusement and silent question if you're okay, you roll your eyes and that's all it takes for him to grin as he lets Junho lead him away. Standing there alone, you spot Benjamin talking to one of, what you assume, future partners. Slowly enjoying the frizzy and sweet taste of the pink champagne, you watch him and notice how professional, yet sweet he looks. His soft brown eyes shine as he's saying something, hands hidden in his grey slacks, as he shoots a handsome grin to the man.

He is handsome and is definitely a rare sight in Seoul. As he told you on his first days working in the company, his mom is French while his dad is Korean. They moved here when he was six and ever since then, he lives here as well while he visits France and his other side of the family at least twice a year. You can see it – he has that french charm going on.

His sandy hair is parted in the middle, swiped back with a gel that makes him look more elegant. Not that you care about office's gossips, but you already heard some of your female co-workers gush about him. It's not like you blame them, he is handsome but is he someone you'd go for? You're not sure. He seems like a sweet guy and his obvious attention that he gives you should flatter you. To some extent, it does. You're just not ready for any relationship right now and you're not sure if dating someone you get to work with every day would be a great decision.

"A few more minutes and I'd think you like him too,"

Eyes rolling automatically, you're not surprised by the sudden presence of the devil himself as he joins and gives you a Cheshire cat smile. "Who cares what you think," you tell him dryly, taking a big gulp of your champagne because suddenly, sipping doesn't sound like an option.

"Careful, you'll insult me," he jokes, and you don't give him that pleasure of reacting to his stupid jabs. "You brought your boyfriend with you?"

"For the millionth time, he is not my boyfriend," you tell him through clenched teeth, not even sparing him a look. "Go away, you're ruining my night."

"You're so mean," Yoongi says and as you take a glance at him, you see him faking a pout which makes you snort. "This party's boring. I should've fake being sick or something."

You laugh, shaking your head at him. "We both know Junho would not let you live for it," you remind him, "I've thought about it too." you murmur, both of you looking at each other before you snort at the same time.

Soon enough, Benjamin comes your way with the older man in a suit, flashing you a toothy grin.

"Hey, Mr. Huang wanted to say hi," Benjamin chirps, the older man smiles although there is some kind of intimidating aura around him.

"Oh, you're one of the Chinese partners, right?" you ask, quickly taking his head as you slightly bow in greeting which he seems to be appreciative about. "It's lovely to meet you!"

He shakes Yoongi's hand, a quiet greeting leaving his lips as the man confirms your assumptions. The conversation doesn't end there and the four of you stand in a circle while Mr. Huang talks about his company and business. Surprisingly, none of it is boring and you find yourself to be intrigued in this conversation. Somewhere in the middle, when Yoongi talks to him and seems to be slightly more relaxed (which means he doesn't look as if he's actually dying here), your and Benjamin's eyes meet and he smiles at you.

"Hey," he mouths and you smile, greeting him back. "You look beautiful tonight."

You feel the familiar warm feeling in your chest whenever somebody compliments you, so you politely thank him and there's no time to be exchanging more words, Mr. Huang is far more important because soon, you find out he's a big name in China.

After a couple of minutes, he parts from you with Benjamin as well, which most likely means he's been told to accompany him through the evening by Junho. You and Yoongi are soon swapped by another group, although this time your co-workers as they start to gush around all the business partners.

In a conversation you particularly take no interest in, you scan the room around you and find Jungkook almost immediately, standing on the other side of the room. It's not that hard to spot him in his striped shirt, recognizing those thighs and butt almost immediately. You allow yourself to watch him, not finding anything more interesting at the moment.

You're not surprised to see some of the women glancing his way, whispering something to each other and not even the presence of a model next to him doesn't surprise you. She's almost as tall as Jungkook with the heels she's wearing, her long and exposed tan legs on full display. Her mouth is moving which indicates she's talking while the rest of the people watch and listen to her, Jungkook nodding along before he opens his mouth and starts talking again.

The memories of him and you before you came here pop in your mind, causing you to dryly gulp and you hate to admit how it smooths your soul to know you're the one he fucked today, not the model or any other woman. It's hard to stay confident with a woman next to him looking like that, deep down you know how pathetic it is. It slightly irritates you how easy it would be for him to get any woman he points at.

Sometime, a little bit after Jungkook stops talking and listens to Junho again, he shifts his gaze and looks around, just right to the side where you are standing. Your eyes meet, and you grin as he sends you a toothy grin back, a heat spreading in your stomach and shamefully enough, between your thighs as well. You have to look away, feeling the heat crawling at the back of your neck and luckily, your name is being called by Lauren, one of the assistants working under you.

Jungkook turns around to pay a full attention to the conversation, bowing politely whenever Junho praises his work for the hundredth time in the past twenty minutes.

"... like I said, I'd love to work with you on this next project Mr. Jeon," Junho chirps, looking straight at Jungkook as everyone quietens down. "I know you've got your own business going on, but we as a company would be more than thrilled to work with you again."

He can't lie, the money Junho is offering sounds good and Jungkook can make some free time for this, since it's in two months. He is usually booked for the whole year but he surely can think of something. Also Junho is aware of your friendship, and despite this deal having nothing to do with you, Jungkook also wants to take it for you. He heard you saying he's acting like a prick sometimes, it surely can get useful if Jungkook accepts this job. He hopes this way, Junho will go easier on you.

Although, he's not sure if men and bosses like him are like that.

"It sounds appealing, Mr. Gwan," Jungkook smiles, "I will take it, we can discuss further details later. If you're okay with that, of course."

"That sounds wonderful!" Junho doesn't hide his happiness of snatching Jungkook as his photographer for the next project. "We will need one more photographer, though."

It makes sense, there is a lot of work and the main job will go to Jungkook, but there has to be another photographer to do other small jobs like taking polaroids, helping with taking more photos and so on.

"If you don't mind, I know someone that might help," Jungkook offers and Junho attentively listens, nodding right away. It seems like he trusts Jungkook's judgement, the conversation lasting for another half an hour.

It's not as bad here as you thought it would be. That's your current thought as you sip on your third glass, the pistachio flavor on your tongue thanks to the macaroon you've tasted just a minute ago.

Of course, your sudden change of opinion could be thanks to the champagne but still, there's boredom starting to annoy you. You would still rather be wrapped in a blanket with no make-up and watching whatever shit show they're playing on the television right now.

A hand brushes against your lower back, a familiar cologne hitting your nose as another presence joins you. "You good? You're having fun?"

Glancing at Jungkook, you don't fight off the soft smile that appears on your lips which he reciprocates right away, reaching for one of the grilled toasts since you're standing next to the food table. "Fuck, I'm so hungry." he mutters and bites into the toast while you grin.

"Can't say I'm having the best time of my life but yeah, it's not that bad," you admit, shaking your head when Jungkook offers you a bite from his toast. "What about you? You sure are busy tonight." you joke, seeing him nod as he swallows his bite.

"Junho offered me a job, I think that's why he wanted me here," Jungkook informs you, your eyes widening in surprise and interest which takes all of him to continue. "It's just one project but he's offering good money."

"So you took it?" you ask interestedly, scooting away from the table as Jungkook takes one of the plates.

"Yeah," he says with a full mouth, clearing his throat as if he just noticed where he is. It causes you to giggle as you grab a napkin for him, which he takes from you with a silenced 'thanks'.

You don't ask anything further, letting him eat in peace as you tell him about your evening so far, mentioning you've met Mr. Huang which Jungkook responds he has met him too, he's one of the main partners for the project he's going to work on. Among all of that, Jungkook also mentions the model which you could've seen standing next to him and apparently, she'll be the main star on it.

Ignoring the sour taste in your mouth and on your face, you stay silent and listen to Jungkook instead as he finishes his toast, and tells you more about people he has met so far. To be honest, Jungkook looks in his element and you don't get that much opportunity to see him in a situation like this. Yes, he's always been cool and extroverted whenever he hung out with someone, but being in this businessy state is quite something new. You can't say you hate it.

He's hot, and you're more than sure you'll be asked by at least one woman about him, judging by the eyes on you.

Jungkook may be attracting the most women audience here, but also one pair of eyes is set on you and once you wave at the man Jungkook remembers, even though it takes him a moment to realize, you look at him in a question.

"Is that the guy who stared at us before?"

You snort at his bluntless, replaying the moment when Jungkook came to pick you up and was thrown off by the sudden stare coming from Benjamin.

"Yeah, that's Benjamin." you answer, glancing at him again and he's not looking at you currently, however he keeps glancing your direction here and there.

"What's with the stare down?" Jungkook frowns in confusion, putting down the empty plate as he wipes his mouth clean, throwing the napkin to the bin. "Do you have a crush on him or something?"

You snort, looking amusingly at Jungkook. "It's the other way around, Mr. Jeon."

"Wait--he has a crush on you?" Jungkook sounds surprised.

"Well, don't sound so surprised. I am not that bad looking and I am completely worthy of being someone's crush." you joke, wiggling your brows at him as he lifts the corner of his lips in an amused chuckle.

"That's not what I meant," he shakes his head, "You just never mentioned him. Is he giving you a hard time?"

You laugh, patting Jungkook's chest while you adjust his shirt a little. "There was no reason to," you tell him, sliding your hands down his chest before you let go of him. "And no, he's just obviously into me and I am trying to politely show him that I am not interested."

"Just tell him," Jungkook shrugs, "You're so blunt and straight-forward, why don't you just tell him?"

"Well, because he has never told me he likes me that way. I think it's obvious but I can't just call him out on it. Besides, he's a nice guy and I don't want to hurt him by saying something so blunt right away, especially when he didn't give me a reason for it," you explain, seeing Jungkook frowning in thought as he looks away from you and shifts his gaze on Benjamin.

Noticing it, you elbow him in his abs which barely does anything since you're met with a set of hard muscles. "Don't just stare at him!" you harshly whisper, met with Jungkook's amused look. "You look intimidating and you're making it more than obvious we are talking about him." you scold him, amusing Jungkook even more as he lets out a laugh.

"Okay, Ms. Professional," he teases you, causing you to annoyingly purse your lips at him.

"Mr. Jeon, can you come here please for a second?" Junho calls Jungkook, your annoyance clearly showing because Jungkook laughs at your expression, thanks to Jungkook's body that is hiding you from Junho's sharp eyes.

"You gonna be okay?" Jungkook asks, checking on you as you playfully roll your eyes and push him from you.

"Just go, Mr. Jeon,"

Jungkook shoots you a wink, your skin burning at the single reaction as he walks away as if nothing happened. In a desperate need to fan yourself, you settle on drinking instead as you scurry away from the curious women's eyes. Unlike them, they don't hide the grin and swoon Jungkook has made them feel.

Most of the night is spent with your best friend slash fuck buddy, being ripped away from you at every opportunity – whether it's Jungkook's presence wanted or yours. You can't say you're disappointed because you know this party is mainly about business, Junho's invitation for Jungkook more than clear now, but still, you enjoy every little minute you get to spend next to Jungkook who is kind enough to come and check on you whenever he can.

You're not going to lie, you do enjoy his close proximity and whenever he brushes past you, and you blame it all on him. One look at him and you keep yourself from salivating, and maybe you should blame the amount of champagne glasses you've drunk. You're not drunk though, god no, you can't possibly get drunk on a work related thing, whether it's a party or something else. You just feel a familiar heat relaxing your body and from time to time, you find yourself getting drowsy and distracted which the alcohol is the real cause for.

"I don't think I've ever thanked you enough," Benjamin says, a trail of thoughts interrupted by his soft but yet manly voice, a guilt burning in your chest for not listening to him for a moment.

Turning your gaze back to him, you offer him a confused smile. You've been standing and talking together for a while now. He mostly updated you about Mr. Huang and confirmed your assumptions about Junho telling Benjamin to accompany the important man. The conversation hasn't been uncomfortable, not at all, quite on the contrary. At least he's been keeping you company, something you're very grateful about.

"Thanked me?" you ask, smiling and frowning in confusion as Benjamin chuckles, glancing down at his glass before he looks back at you and nods.

"I was so nervous to be working here and you've made me feel welcomed from the very beginning,"

Your heart warms up at his thoughtful words, knowing how hard it is to be changing jobs and be in a new team. Remembering Benjamin's nervous and very polite attitude, it's hard to forget how nervous he really seemed to be but a good thing is, he's skilled. He also speaks French which definitely adds a lot of points on his CV, and you had the opportunity to hear him speak the foreign language while he was talking on the phone with clients.

Somebody might say he's a male character coming straight from a romantic movie.

Back to the first Benjamin's days of working here, you do remember assuring him that he'll do a great job and whatever needed to be explained, you made sure to explain it to him or at least tell someone to do it. And he's very smart, understood everything from the first explanation and there hasn't been any problem with him. Junho also seems to be very pleased by taking him in, that says enough in your opinion.

"I guess I wanted to thank you for that."

"Ah, you don't need to thank me," you assure him, touching his forearm softly but you pry your hands off as soon as he looks down at the touch. "You really are welcome,"

You give him a smile and he looks back at you, offering you the same smile while you feel his eyes linger on you a little bit too long, which wouldn't be a bother, if it weren't for the look in them.

"So, tell me more... have you grown accustomed to Junho and his work ethic?"

That makes him snap out of his daze as he chuckles, seeing your own grin when he seems to understand exactly what you are talking about. It doesn't take a genius to figure out Junho and his wild personality. He's a pain in the ass but isn't that bad of a boss. He still could've been worse, that's what you mostly tell yourself when the man pisses you off.

"Yeah, his work ethic is something else," he says with a grin, getting a genuine laugh from you. "I actually don't find him bad, well he is peculiar but--"

"Hey, I'm back," A chest brushes against your back, soon followed with a hand lingering on your lower back before Jungkook stands next to you, his arm brushing against your side. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

Glancing at Jungkook, you find him already staring at Benjamin who has a look of confusion crossed on his face, until he glances between you and him, eyes scanning Jungkook's whole figure. You tense, not liking the way he eyes Jungkook and there's no chance Jungkook himself doesn't notice it, but he seems collected and staring right back at him.

Shifting on your heels, you clear your throat and give Jungkook a crooked smile. "No, not at all," you tell him, "This is my new co-worker Benjamin. This is Jungkook."

Leaving out the fact that Jungkook knows who he is by now.

Benjamin forces a polite smile on his full lips, "I haven't seen you around, do you work here?"

A little perplexed by the lack of a proper introduction by Benjamin himself, you quickly shake yourself out of it. It's the tone he low-key settles that makes you a little bit anxious, because whatever the Alpha stare-down the two men have, it never ends up nicely.

"I don't," Jungkook answers curtly, giving him a smile that almost screams fake, and you hope Benjamin can't tell because you can't deal with any of this. "I came with Y/N."

Benjamin mimics Jungkook's fake smile, your heart picking up the pace by the sudden tension even though the conversation isn't too forward. It's the one and visibly stare-down the two of them have.

"Ah, yes," Benjamin exclaims in thought, "You're her friend. Yoongi told me,"

At the mention of the evil man, you tense even more and curse him whenever he is right now. Of course, he is somehow involved in this. Even if he told him the truth, you still don't trust Yoongi and his intentions. Since Benjamin knows about Jungkook and who he is to you, it means he probably asked Yoongi. And the idiot knows Benjamin has his eyes for you, he's very well aware that you're not interested. The news doesn't surprise you, yet it irritates you to the core.

"I didn't know we could've brought friends." Benjamin says, this time completely aimed at you as he solely stares at you, a look you've grown used to visible on his face as you give him a crooked smile, an uncomfortable shift that doesn't go unnoticed by Jungkook who simply watches the interaction.

"Actually, I'm her boyfriend,"

Catching yourself from choking on your spit, you stare at Jungkook with wide eyes but he doesn't even spare you a glance, eyeing Benjamin who seems to be just as surprised to hear him.

"Boyfriend?" he breathes out, "I didn't know you had a--"

"Yeah, well it's very new, not many people know." you cut him off, offering him a slight smile while you ignore the guilt by the lie. To go with your lie, you scoot closer to Jungkook and look up at him, finding him already staring back at you and you know he's fighting off to smirk right in front of Benjamin.

He eyes you as if you and Jungkook have grown another two heads, his lips slightly twitching as he's trying not to show his displeasure by the news. But of course, nothing is easy when someone particular is around.

"Didn't you tell me just a few hours ago that he isn't your boyfriend?"

Another voice chirps in and if looks could kill, Yoongi would've been dead right away. He looks pleased as he joins you, everyone's eyes on you as you narrow your eyes at the only person you want to attack at the moment.

Yoongi's words spark a hope in Benjamin's eyes, and his attention is solely back on you as you give him a nervous chuckle.

"I don't have to confess to you, Yoongi. Why would I tell you about my personal life?" you challenge Yoongi, raising your brow at him. To be honest, you're quite nervous to tell him something because Yoongi seems like the perfect definition of a snake. You're scared what next comes out of his mouth.

"Why would you lie about such a simple question?" he chirps back, your hands itching to wrap them around his neck but you feel Jungkook's hand on your hip, rubbing you slightly through the fabric.

Thankfully, Benjamin is being called by one of your co-workers and he excuses himself, a perplexed expression on his face as he murmurs his excuse.

"Why the hell would you do that?" you exclaim right away, once Benjamin is out of ear shot.

What drives you completely nuts it's the way Yoongi effortlessly shrugs, not minding he's ruining everything and poking his nose into something that is none of his business.

"Why would you lie to him? Just tell him straight away you don't like him that way, don't lie to him."

Those words coming from Yoongi out of people actually makes you embarrassed, because you know you'd just go along with Jungkook's lie who came to save your ass once he sensed your discomfort.

Before you can open your mouth, not even sure what you want to say other than tell him to fuck off, Jungkook is already one step ahead of you.

"What's it to you?" Jungkook's voice booms out, his features frowned in a hardened scowl.

Jungkook succeeds at getting a reaction from Yoongi, and that is a scowl that clouds his usual nonchalant or amused features.

"I'm bored," he shrugs and you almost scoff out loud at this man. "And besides, she lied."

"And you should mind your business." Jungkook offers but with an edge to his tone that makes you tense, but you're too shocked to even move an inch.

"So should you," Yoongi almost sings out, pursing his lips as you gasp at his rude response while Jungkook frowns.

"You came out of nowhere and said you're bored." Jungkook points out through clenched teeth, still trying to grasp what Yoongi's intentions are while he continues to be unbothered as he looks around for a moment.

"Because I am."

"What are you? A child?" Jungkook scoffs, Yoongi's head turning towards your best friend as he frowns at him. But Jungkook doesn't stop. "Go to the playground then," he snaps and Yoongi opens his mouth, a dead glare set on his eyes as you quickly jump between the two men.

"Okay, stop it you two," you warn them through clenched teeth, "This is ridiculous,"

You look at them but stop on Yoongi, searching face as he simply just stares back at you. His face is expressionless like most of the time and it's hard to read what he thinks. Not an ounce of any emotion which only makes you let out a sigh, both in exhaustion and disappointment. He's sticking his nose where it doesn't belong and you hope he's at least aware of the look of disappointment, not even anger, you give him.

Jungkook's name falls past your lips as you gently tug onto his arm, finding him glaring the hell out of Yoongi, seeming to be just as irritated. However, Yoongi solely stares at you before he looks away for whatever reason, not giving Jungkook and you any attention. Jungkook doesn't move, almost as if he didn't hear you but you know he has and judging by the deadly look, he doesn't want Yoongi to get away with this.

"Jungkook," you warn him, tugging him harder and he finally lets you lead him away from Yoongi, but not before he sends him one last glare.

Luckily, the party is slowly ending as people are leaving and one final round of bidding goodbye to some of the partners and Junho, you're out of the place. What shocks you is the way Jungkook stays quiet for the rest of the ride, jaw clenched and so far, he looks even more mad at Yoongi than you are.

So you sit back, enjoying the leather soft seats his car offers because that's enough drama for tonight.

[trblsvt]

in this life | choi seungcheol

summary | honestly, you didn’t really care what choi seungcheol did anymore. but, when his mom called you saying there was an accident, you found yourself at the foot of his bed. genre | fluff, angst, hurt/comfort; exes!au warnings | swearing, mentions of hospitals, injuries from an accident (not life threatening), mentions of drinking, suggestive… for like a flashback, nudity (non-sexual and not descriptive), miscommunication possibly…, jealousy…, insecurities/self-doubt word count | 13.47k words pairing | choi seungcheol x fem!reader minli | lowercase intended i literally have nothing to say about this. sort of a monster to write. i had so many ideas for this, yet little brainpower to execute! it was a fun concept and the longest fic i’ve written for this blog… italics mean flashback or past event… update | i forgot a few things to tag under warnings, sorry :( they have been added

you were doing great, just great. it started raining when you left your umbrella back at your apartment. you were late to work, and you spilled your coffee on the way out of the door. things were great, and it had been seven months since you and your boyfriend called it quits.

you’d like to say it ended in a big blaze of glory, something movie-like, but it was just the opposite. you had sat down with seungcheol and told him that you were unhappy. he was always too busy and refused to make time for anything other than his work. as for you, well you were tired. when you told him, he sort of just looked at you blankly and just shrugged.

he fucking shrugged. great. so that was it. you just stared at him blankly. he wasn’t even going to put up a fight. two years down the drain.

“so that’s it?” you had asked before you left.

“yeah, i guess so,” he had replied.

and that’s how it ended, you packed up your stuff and went back to your apartment. you technically weren’t living with seungcheol, you still had your lease and whatever, but you spent a lot of time at seungcheol’s.

you finally made it to the office and clocked in. nothing important was going on today which was nice, but also this meant your day was going to be endlessly boring. at least it was friday. 

you sat down and logged into your computer. “shouldn’t you change your home screen?” a voice startled you out of your thoughts of the hours to come. you spun around in your chair and stared at your friend minjeong. you looked between her and your computer screen. you knew what she was talking about, but you decided to play dumb. “what are you talking about?” you asked. minjeong sort of glared at you.

“that’s from your vacation to jeju,” she frowned.

the same vacation seungcheol took you on.

“yeah, it’s a sunset for jeju. what about it?” you huffed. she didn’t respond, just gave you a look. you knew that look. it was the “i know better than you, why aren’t you listening to me?” look. “seungcheol isn’t even in this picture,” you defended your screensaver.

“but seungcheol was there. that’s a memory with seungcheol,” she countered. she was right. you probably should’ve changed it, but whether it was with seungcheol or not, it was a nice picture. “yeah, it is, but we’re on good terms so what’s the big deal?” you blurted out.

there was the “you’re such a liar” look. “really? when’s the last time you talked to seungcheol since you broke up?” she entertained you even though you both knew you hadn’t contacted seungcheol once since you broke up. “well, it’s not like i keep track or anything, that would be weird,” you brushed her off. you could practically hear her rolling her eyes. “seriously, ___, i don’t think this is healthy for you to still keep remnants of your relationship with him around. it’s going to prevent you from moving on,” she explained.

“i know, just- just give me a little time,” you sighed.

“time? it’s been seven months! how about we go out tonight? you can get your sights on some new man. i think i overheard that changkyun is going out tonight at that new bar.”

“now why would i be interested in where changkyun is going tonight?” you scoffed. minjeong had a theory that changkyun had been crushing on you since he first joined the company, but you were too “lovesick” with seungcheol to see. “he’s so into you! i’m not saying to marry the guy, just take your mind off seungcheol. it’s his loss anyway,” minjeong laughed. 

you wanted to believe that, you really did.

you had every intention of going out with minjeong, but the day was going on so momentously, you weren’t sure if you could stand up straight for another second. you both had to unexpectedly stay longer and work overtime, and it might have been the death of you. you heard minjeong’s cheery humming coming around the corner. “are you ready to get absolutely wasted?” she smiled.

“i was going for more of a buzzed thing,” you yawned.

“oh no, don’t do that. you get so quiet when you’re tired before you drink,” she whined. you looked at her, but she was right. you had about three different moods when you were drunk. one, loud. two, quiet. three, insane. and most of the time, the way you ended up correlated to how you were feeling before you drank. you couldn’t explain it, but it just happened.

you were about to offer a clever rebuttal when your phone started ringing. “one second,” you didn’t even bother to check the caller id. “hello?” you replied.

“ah, ___ thank you for answering,” a familiar voice floated through the phone. you paused. you pulled your phone away from your ear and looked at the name on the call.

mrs. choi.

“mrs. choi, hello, i wasn’t expecting you to call me,” you said almost breathlessly. you glanced over at minjeong and she stared at you, wide-eyed. “___, dear. i’m so glad you picked up. i need you to come over,” she sighed. she sounded tired like she had been crying. wait. she wanted you to come over? for what? “come over? what’s going on? is everyone okay?” you asked, logging off your computer and placing the few things you took out of your bag, back into the bag.

“i have hope that it will be. seungcheol was in a car accident.”

you apologized profusely to minjeong and left the office rushing to the seungcheol’s apartment. you knew the way to his apartment, to him, like the back of your hand. you punched the code in that bypassed the need to be buzzed in, and made your way to the elevator.

after you pressed the button to the fifth floor of the complex you felt your hands become inexplicably sweaty. why did you rush over here like a lovesick fool? you weren’t even dating him anymore. why did his mom call you? what was going on? the elevator dinged, alerting you that it was time to get out.

you made your way down to his apartment. 5-12. it looked the same since the last time you were there. you stared at the door. it had been so long since you had been there. your heart was beating so fast, you didn’t know what to do. so, you just knocked.

the door flew open almost instantly. “___, my dear, come in,” mrs. choi welcomed you warmly. you smiled and bowed slightly. when you stepped through the doorway your first instinct was to run away, but you couldn’t. you kicked your shoes off and followed mrs. choi in the direction of seungcheol’s bedroom.

she lightly grasped at your arm. “the car crash happened a couple days ago. we just got out of the hospital. he broke his right leg. it was jammed against the dash and steering wheel. he also has a bruised lung from the airbag, and a mild concussion from the collision,” she explained. you nodded. that sounded awful. where did he crash? did someone crash into him, or did he crash into someone else?

almost reading your mind, she added, “he didn’t hurt anyone else. it was raining the other day. it was dark and his car hydroplaned into a barrier. the cops thought it might’ve been a drunk driving incident since they found newly bought alcohol in the back of his car, but there wasn’t any in his system.”

you were still rendered speechless. seungcheol was the safest driver you knew. he always warned you about hydroplaning and what to do if it happened. why didn’t he do what he always told you?

you realized you were spaced out when mrs. choi rested a hand on your shoulder. “i was surprised that you didn’t come the other day, but seungcheol insisted that you were away on a trip of some sort. he didn’t want me to call you, but you’re his girlfriend! i had to tell you at some point, and you’re obviously back in town,” she exclaimed. “thank you so much for coming, ___. i don’t know where seungcheol would be without you.”

you’re his girlfriend.

what the fuck?

you certainly were not his girlfriend anymore. why did she think you were together? it had been seven months. mrs. choi was sharp, she wouldn’t accidentally slip and say you were his girlfriend unless that is if…

then it dawned on you. 

for whatever reason, seungcheol never told his mom the two of you broke up.

fuck.

seungcheol was sick. he was more than sick. he was hurt, physically. and his mom only wanted what was best for her son. she brought you here for something. you weren’t about to make this poor woman’s day worse by telling her you weren’t dating seungcheol anymore, so you played along. “yes, i just got back from a business trip. i always tell seungcheol to call me if something’s the matter. i’m so glad you called me, i wasn’t going to come over for another day or two because of his work schedule,” you pretended. she looked at you fondly. “i always knew you were a good one, ___,” she smiled. it pained you to lie to her, but it seemed like the best option for now.

“we just got back from the hospital a few hours ago. he’s all set up in there. i’m not sure if he’s awake now, but do you want to see him?” she asked. you nodded quietly. you didn’t know what you were going to do in front of seungcheol. you preferred not to think about it.

“before you go in, i have a large favor to ask you. i understand you’re a busy person, but if you could, oh my i feel so embarrassed to ask this. if you could stay with him for a while. take some time off and take care of him because i really cannot stay. my father is ill and i must return home to care for him,” she laughed bitterly. “i would stay, and i would never dream of dumping this sort of responsibility on just anyone, but you’re his girlfriend. not saying girlfriends and wives are only meant for taking care of husbands and boyfriends, but i know you care about seungcheol. i just thought it-”

“yes, i can do that,” you cut her off. why did you say that? “i can contact my manager and work remotely.” why do you keep saying things like this? suddenly mrs. choi’s arms were around you. “thank you, thank you, thank you, dear. i am so grateful for you, and i know my son is too. thank you! i must get going, but i already stocked the fridge. you can go in. once again, thank you so much. our family owes you so much,” she cried. you rubbed her back. “oh, don’t say that. you don’t owe me anything. i’m just happy he’s alright,” you whispered.

that was the first truthful thing you said in that entire interaction.

when you entered the room, mrs. choi accompanied you. seungcheol was awake. he stared longingly out the window on the opposite side of the room away from the door. “honey, there’s someone here to see you,” mrs. choi called gently. you wanted to hide, so you tried to. partially behind her and you looked over her shoulder. seungcheol tried to adjust himself and he slowly turned over to look at his mother. “mom, i really didn’t want to see anyone-” he began, but his eyes met yours and he froze.

“oh come on, darling, it’s ___. she’s agreed to help out some. she cares about you,” she cooed. seungcheol looked like a child who got caught going through the cookie jar.

due to the dim light, you couldn’t really see that well, but you noticed the large soft cast that he had on his right leg. it looked like he was having a hard time breathing, that was the bruised lung. he had some cuts on his face that had already scabbed over, but you noticed some dark spots on his pillow, maybe he had been picking at them. he had a habit of picking at his scabs.

but the most striking thing to you was how pale he was. he looked like a ghost, which was strange since seungcheol loved to go outside to read or watch people. what had changed since you left? you noticed a wheelchair and a pair of crutches.

“mom, i- why did you call, ___? i told you she was busy,” seungcheol asked weakly. before his mom could nag him, you decided that you could save this entire situation from becoming more awkward than it needed to be. “cheol, don’t you remember? i came back yesterday, but i knew you were going to be busy with work,” you forced a smile. you thought you were going to throw up his mother grinned and squeezed your hand. she made her way over to seungcheol’s closet and started rummaging through it looking for something.

you looked back at seungcheol and it looked like he might cry. his eyes yelled at you, what are you doing here?

if you were honest you weren’t sure.

you saw mrs. choi out while she continued to thank you profusely for looking about for seungcheol. “of course, no need to worry. seungcheol is safe with me,” you assured.

“what would i do without you, ___? i hope someday you can join the family officially. i mean you’ve been dating seungcheol for over two years now,” she grinned hugging you.

yeah, i did too, you thought.

she left and instructed you to just heat something up that she left in the fridge. you locked the door behind you and made your way into the kitchen. you pulled out a tray of noodles and plated them. she left you a few tips about seungcheol so you decided to look at it.

he has work off, so no need to worry about driving him to work. once he is better and the doctors clear his concussion can start working from home.

please make sure he is eating three meals a day. he’s been acting differently and hasn’t been eating as much.

for showers, there’s a cover for the cast because he can’t get it wet.  i set up a chair in his shower, so he should need minimal help in that area. maybe just changing.

pain medications are in the cabinet next to the fridge. dosage is two tablets every six hours. but, if he isn’t hurting that much give him one, or if he isn’t in any pain don’t worry about it. 

he has a doctor’s appointment in a couple of weeks to see how his leg is healing is progressing.

thank you so much <3 call me if you need anything

you frowned at the second one. not eating well? seungcheol always ate well. this seemed pretty manageable. you had already called your supervisor, who approved your request to work remotely. you did have to lie and say you were taking care of a family member, but otherwise, it was a mostly truthful story.

when you put the sheet down, the microwave had finished and you brought the plate into seungcheol’s room. he wasn’t looking in your direction, instead, he was looking out the window. “seungcheol, i brought you dinner. your mom made it,” you announced. no response. you huffed and looked around the room. you didn’t want to push him, but you needed him to eat. “i know you’re not sleeping. you’ll heal faster if you eat. your mom needs you to eat,” you continued. yet, to no avail, he still stared out the window, body closed off to you. you sighed, you wished it didn’t have to come to this. “seungcheol, i need you to eat. please, for me,” you pleaded. there was a slight shift, but still no response. “well, i’ll just leave it here, but eat it soon. it’ll get cold,” you sighed, placing the plate on the nightstand where he could reach it.

why did you sign up for this? it wasn’t like you owed him anything. why didn’t you just tell his mom you were broken up? so many questions were flooding your mind, so you almost missed his whispered question. “what, did you say? i’m sorry, i missed it,” you asked, turning around from the door.

“do you- do you have something to eat?” he asked, breath labored.

something in your heart stuttered.

you silently nodded.

“that’s good,” was all he said.

it was almost 9:00 pm. you had your plate of food, and you thought it would be best to run over to your apartment to pick up some clothes and belongings, especially since you were supposed to live here for a while. you would run in and check with seungcheol and let him know you were leaving and then you’d be back in thirty minutes.

you knocked on the door, but no response. you hoped that it wasn’t going to be like this for the rest of his recovery. “i’m coming in, seungcheol,” you called opening the door.

but when you entered you were met with an empty bed. your eyebrows furrowed. you noticed the empty plate of his dinner. then you noticed his wheelchair was gone, and the faint glow of light from under the bathroom door.

you didn’t hear the shower running, so maybe he was just using the bathroom. yet, something in your gut told you otherwise. you made your way over to the bathroom door and pressed your ear against it. you heard quiet sniffling.

oh.

“seungcheol? are you in there?” you asked. dumb question, but you didn’t know what else to lead with. no response. “seungcheol, are you okay?” obviously not. “seungcheol, if you don’t answer me, i’m coming in.”

“no, please. please don’t come in,” he responded finally. “i’m fine.”

“no you’re not. i can help, seungcheol. let me help. what’s going on?” you called. there was a hesitation before he spoke, “i- i don’t know how to do this.”

“what is this?” you asked again for clarification.

“cleaning. i don’t know to do it with this thing on my leg.” that made sense. you already knew he was going to need help with that. you just wished he would’ve come to you first. “can i come in?” you hoped he would say yes.

“no,” he said.

“why not?”

“i don’t want you to see me like this.”

“this isn’t the time to act modest. i’m here to help.” there was a deep sigh on the other side of the door. finally, you heard some shuffling and the door was open. you walked in and took in your surroundings. seungcheol was without a shirt and pants. he sat slumped in his wheelchair as he quickly tried to wipe his tears.  you saw some bruises that covered his abdomen. you also noticed how he looked skinnier. that must be why his mom wanted to make sure he was eating. the cover for his cast was sitting on the counter, so you grabbed it.

you knelt down next to him, he wasn’t looking at you. you looked into the shower and noticed the shower chair. “seungcheol, i’m gonna put a towel under you right now, so can you lift yourself up a little?” you said grabbing a towel to put onto the seat of the wheelchair. he did, and you tried your best to arrange it. “can you stand at all?” you asked. he huffed and pushed himself up, and used you as a brace. 

you guided him into his walk-in shower and helped him sit down. you paused and looked at him closely. he looked so tired, which was expected, but there was something else there. you just couldn’t put your finger on it. “i need you to take off your underwear, unless you want to shower in them,” you directed. he glared at you and mumbled something. “what was that?” you asked.

“i don’t-” he began.

“now is not the time to be modest,” you chided. 

“no! i don’t want you to see me like this! i don’t want you to see me all broken and bruised! it’s not right that my mother asked you to do this! just leave! i know you don’t want to be here, so just go. it’s already humiliating enough,” he heaved. you felt your jaw tighten and your fingers clawed at your sides. you didn’t want to respond to that, at least not at that moment. “take off your underwear, seungcheol,” you ordered, crossing your arms. he finally looked at you in your eyes, and he pushed his underwear off. you had to help him get it over his cast, but otherwise, it was seamless. next, you grabbed the cast cover which was essentially a glorified plastic bag, and slid it over his bandaged leg. 

seungcheol’s eyes were downcast again, and he refused to acknowledge you. his shower head was detachable and handheld, so you took it down and placed it closer to him. he still wasn’t looking at you. although you really needed to get some stuff from your apartment, you could stay. when you started rolling up your sleeves on your work blouse and slipping out of your house slippers, seungcheol stared at you incredulously. you stepped into the shower and turned on the water. you made sure the head was facing the ground as you waited for it to warm up. “what are you doing?” he asked. he almost sounded angry, but that could be addressed later. you snatched the washcloth that was hanging on a hook inside the shower and found his shampoo and conditioner. he leaned over and grabbed your wrist, it wasn’t harsh or forceful, just him. “what are you doing?” he repeated.

“taking care of you,” you said shortly. “now close your eyes. tell me if it’s too hot.” he released your wrist and there was that look again. you had to figure out what that was about. you raised the shower head and soaked his hair, and promptly began to lather his shampoo into his hair. he seemed to relax at that. you ran your hands through his hair like you used to. he liked it when you tugged at his strands. it brought him a comfort he couldn’t describe. yet, his hair was shorter now, not the longer strands that you were used to. you wondered what made him cut it, but you knew now wasn’t the time to ask about it. 

the rest of the shower went without any hitch. your hands running over the broad expanse of his back. something about that moment was so domestic, intimate, yet you knew you couldn’t have it the way you wanted it. the way you wanted him. so, you pushed it down, just like the way you did when you noticed him distancing himself from you and drowning himself in his work. 

you helped him get into some clean clothes and bed after he brushed his teeth and dried his body. after you brought him his pain medication with a glass of water to stick next to his bed, you were about to go out and run to your apartment. he saw you rustling around in your bag that you left in his room. “what are you doing?” he asked.

“looking for my keys,” you replied.

“why?”

“so i can go home and grab some things. i’ll be working from home, i mean, i’ll be working here while i help you.” god, why did you call his apartment home? it hadn’t been your home for so long. “i’ll be back soon. i’ll be quiet when i come back so just sleep.”

“no, don’t go.”

“pardon?”

“don’t go.” he stared at you like a petulant child. was this a symptom of a concussion? “seungcheol, i have to go get some of my things. i don’t really want to sleep in my work clothes,” you tried to reason with the pouting man. 

“you left some of your clothes. t-shirts and stuff. sweatpants. just wear that. it’s too late for you to leave now. it wouldn’t be safe,” he shrugged but winced. that was the bruised lung. you didn’t know you left your things over, if you did you would’ve made one more trip to pick them up. 

but…

seungcheol didn’t throw out the clothes you left behind. was he stashing them in case he had another girl come over that needed to borrow clothes? was he saving them for a special time to burn them? why did he keep your clothes? 

no matter, it was no use arguing with seungcheol, and you were tired. you hadn’t even had time to process the fact he had been in an accident, to begin with. “where?” you asked turning back around.

“in my closet, where your clothes usually are.” he looked at you like it was obvious. why would it be obvious? you wanted to scream. a normal person after a breakup usually burns the things their ex left behind, or they maybe just throw them out on the street. they don’t keep it in the same place in the closet. you breathed deeply to calm your mind. now was not the time to address the elephant in the room. “i’ll be getting a shower then,” you said, eyeing him suspiciously. he just nodded and turned to face the window. 

the shower was uneventful other than the thousands of thoughts flowing through your mind. you hoped that they would leave you and flow down the drain. when you finally got out of the shower, you realized you would have to walk through seungcheol’s bedroom to get to the couch. hopefully, he was knocked out. you slid on the clothes that you had left there. it was an old sweatshirt and pajama bottoms, but it would get the job done for the night. the smelled like they were cleaned with his detergent, and you weren’t sure if you loved it or if you wanted it off of your body forever. you tried the best you could to open the door as quietly as possible, and it seemed to work. you were basically out the door without seungcheol waking up or noticing you. that is until he did. “where are you going?” he asked. you hung your head, your hand leaving the doorknob. “to the couch,” you replied.

“why?”

now, there was something seriously wrong with him. you glanced around the room, searching for an answer. “because i’m going to sleep on the couch,” you scrutinized him a bit further. he stared at you with the same confusion. he seemingly picked up on the mutual tension and confusion in the air, “i’ll sleep on the couch, you sleep here,” he clarified. you choked on air. he must have more than a concussion, he had amnesia of some sort because you don’t just let your ex sleep in your bed, especially after you had been in a serious accident. 

you had to snap yourself out of the trance you were in before seungcheol could even attempt to get out of bed, which he was already in the process of trying. rushing over to him and pushing him back under the covers was more of a feat than you thought it was going to be. he seemed adamant about having you stay in his bed while he went to the couch. you were getting deja vu or something to the fights leading up to the end of your relationship. 

“no, i’ll take the couch,” he had insisted.

“no, this is your home and your bed. i’ll just stay on the couch since you don’t want me to go to my apartment,” you had refused. “talk in the morning?”

“yeah sure.”

“no, you’re the guest here, i’ll take the couch,” he shrugged, once again trying to push himself up. you placed a hand on his shoulder. “seungcheol, i wasn’t the one in a car accident,” you reasoned. “you won’t be comfortable on the couch.”

“just- just let me do something for you,” he muttered under his breath. you don’t think you were supposed to hear it, but you did. 

“the best thing you can do for me is to sleep in your own bed and heal.” his gaze lifted and looked at yours. he looked utterly exhausted, and to be honest, you probably looked the same. he inhaled deeply and sat back against his headrest in concession. you smiled at him and before you could stop yourself, you ran your hand through his hair which he happily accepted. “good night, seungcheol,” you said.

“good night,” he replied sounding more at ease. in another lifetime, there would be more to this than a simple good night, but in this lifetime it was different. so much different than you ever hoped for.

“i love you, cheol.”

“i love you too, ___.”

the crick in your back was going to be the death of you, but oh well, you already called into work and took the next week off before you started working remotely. minjeong was surprised that you even agreed to this in the first place. “___, he was an asshole to you,” she pointed out over the phone. you were currently lugging your stuff down the hall to seungcheol’s apartment, phone dangerously stuck between your shoulder and cheek. “he wasn’t an asshole,” you argued. for some reason, the need to defend seungcheol still ran through your veins. 

“he was, ___. he was,” minjeong sighed. you knew that she was right, but you needed to believe that the breakup was caused all just a big misunderstanding and move on. “i’ve got to go, minnie,” you sighed reaching seungcheol’s doorway.

“___, don’t- ugh, don’t do anything you’ll regret. he didn’t treat you right. he wasn’t toxic, but he was definitely neglectful to you,” she groaned.

“it’s not like i’m going to crawl back to him. i’m just helping him.”

“but why should you?”

seungcheol had some bad habits, and it didn’t always end up well for you.  

“cheol, what are you-” you were promptly cut off when seungcheol pressed his lips against yours with an energy that felt unfamiliar. it was just the average evening, so you didn’t understand why he was kissing you like that. not that he had to have a reason to kiss you, it’s just that it hadn’t happened in so long. you had been with him long enough to know how passionate he was about, well, everything. but, this felt different. not saying it was bad. you craved him being this close for weeks, and he was finally in your grasp.  his hands were planted firmly on your waist and he moved you to where he pleased. “come on, baby, just let me feel you,” he smiled against your lips. 

call you touch-starved (which you were), but you couldn’t help melting into him. this was the most attention you had felt from him in so long. “cheol, please,” you gasped as his lips traveled down your neck. he pulled you infinitely closer and you let him. yet, something was nagging at you. your stomach began to drop as his hands began to slide under your shirt. sinking suspicions started to bubble up through your heart. “cheol, kiss me,” you begged, not wanting your thoughts to be true. he hummed and obliged. he pressed his lips against yours in this new fervor. the heat between you was becoming unbearable as your suspicion was correct. 

beer.

the faint taste of it lingered on his tongue, and it made you want to throw up. for the first time in who knows how long, he touches you like he’s never done before but only because he’s intoxicated. great. you pushed him away. “did you drive home by yourself?” you asked gazing into his tired eyes. 

“no, i had joshua drop me off,” he murmured, hands still not leaving your skin, but that’s all you wanted him to do. just get off of me, is what you wanted to yell. how dare you come here drunk and treat me better than you ever have sober for the past months, is what you wanted to scream. “i think it’s time for you to go to bed, cheol,” you opted for instead. he shook his head still grasping at you. “don’t touch me anymore, seungcheol,” you hissed, swatting his hand away and pulling him to his bathroom.

she didn’t sound angry, just exasperated. she had a point. there was no reason why you should offer your help to him. seungcheol never made time for you when you were together, why were you making time for him yet again? it was major deja vu. “look, he wasn’t nice to me, yes. i hated him for a long time, maybe i still do. but, his mom called me, so i feel like i’m doing it for her. not for him,” you attempted to justify. minjeong scoffed. it was a deserved scoff, but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. minjeong was there when things ended with seungcheol, so she would know the entire situation from the most unbiased, well sort of unbiased, outside position. she was your friend, and it was only natural for her to want to protect you. you couldn’t fault her for that. “i just want what’s best for you, and i’m not convinced helping him through recovery is the best plan,” she sighed.

“i know. you know he hurt me, i won’t let it happen again. i have no intention of getting back with him. you’re right. he was an asshole. i’ve got to go. talk later?” you asked carefully reaching for the spare set of keys his mom gave you.

“let me kick his ass if he hurts you again.”

“i will.”

“talk later! i’m going to miss you at work. love you!”

“love you too.”

after you successfully hung up without dropping your bags, phone, or keys, you opened the door to the kitchen light on. that’s weird. you were pretty sure you left it off when you went to get your stuff. you kicked off your shoes and made your way into to kitchen, your luggage bag dragging behind you. 

you were greeted by seungcheol attempting to push himself up from his wheelchair to wash some fruit in the sink. “seungcheol! what are you doing?” you rushed to his side. he glanced over his shoulder at you. he sort of gave you some dumb look like he didn’t know what was wrong. “you shouldn’t be pushing yourself like this,” you chided. “i can wash these. you need to go back to bed. you should rest.”

“i think i can handle washing some fruit,” he scoffed slumping down in a chair. you rolled your eyes. “it’s not about washing fruit, i know you’re perfectly capable of washing fruit. you were in a car accident a few days ago. you shouldn’t be pushing yourself to get up,” you explained. he just mumbled something under his breath and tried to maneuver his way out of the kitchen. you watched him carefully as he made his way back into his room, and you heard him sigh when he shut the door behind him. 

you had a sinking feeling that this was going to be a long recovery process, for the both of you.

it once again time for seungcheol to go to the doctor. the past few weeks had been back and forth to doctor’s appointments. his concussion was going down. to say things were going well would be a stretch. seungcheol barely spoke to you. you didn’t necessarily expect him to be buddy-buddy with you, but it was strange. he always tried to avoid looking at you. you weren’t sure what you did to deserve this treatment, after all, he was the one who broke up with you.

sleeping on the couch for the past weeks was not ideal. working from seungcheol’s home office was not ideal either. it was weird getting on video calls when you were so used to walking to meetings with minjeong. seungcheol tried his best to not disturb you, but sometimes he would knock on the door and sheepishly ask you for help with something.

the drive to the doctor’s and the check-up itself were uneventful. his leg was healing nicely, and they even decided it was time for a boot, which was great because you could tell he was getting sick of sitting down all the time. “well, mr. choi, it looks like your lung is looking a lot better based off of the scans, and according to your…” dr. hwang paused looking in your direction. seungcheol looked at you briefly like was afraid of what you were going to say. 

you weren’t necessarily worried about getting kicked out because you weren’t immediate family, but for some reason, you chose against saying you were his friend. “i’m his girlfriend,” you bit the bullet. you hoped it didn’t seem too unnatural when you said it. you saw seungcheol’s ears perk up, but he still didn’t address you. 

dr. hwang looked between the two of you seemingly wanting to say something but didn’t. “ah, i see. well you’ve been taking amazing care of mr. choi. according to your girlfriend, you seem to have an easier time breathing. she also said you’re reporting less pain in your head. this is good, since we usually expect swelling and inflammation from a concussion goes down pretty quickly. your concussion should be largely gone by next week, but i would advise against going back to work for some time. you can start walking on this as soon as you feel comfortable, until then use crutches. but, don’t drive until i give you the okay,” dr. hwang rambled, turning back to his computer. 

you could tell seungcheol was excited, maybe he was excited that you would be leaving soon. your stomach sank at the thought, but you didn’t know why. seungcheol barely spoke to you, he couldn’t even look you in the eye most of the time. so, why did you feel bad about the thought of leaving him? you were snapped out of your thoughts when you realized dr. hwang had asked you a question. “um, if you could give me a moment alone with mr. choi, that would be great. i can take him out front once we’re done,” dr. hwang fiddled with his pen as he addressed you. 

“yeah, of course. i’ll uh, i’ll just be in the waiting room. 

after what seemed like an eternity, the two of them came out. dr. hwang smiled at you, and seungcheol looked nervous, finally putting a little weight on his foot with the help of some crutches. “thank you so much, dr. hwang. you’ve been so helpful,” you smiled at him. dr. hwang reciprocated it and patted seungcheol on the back. “mr. choi, look out for yourself. i’ll see you in a few weeks,” he said. seungcheol nodded. 

the ride home was quiet, as always. by now you had grown used to it. when you arrived at seungcheol’s apartment and parked the car, he grabbed your hand before you could leave. “do you want to watch a movie tonight?” he asked. hold on, what? “we can order some take out or something.” maybe dr. hwang was wrong. maybe the swelling in his brain was actually worse. 

your lack of response must’ve freaked seungcheol out. “we don’t have to! i was just thinking it could be a celebratory thing,” he tried to backtrack. 

“no! i’d love- no, i mean, i’d like to watch a movie tonight. that would be nice,” you rushed to cut him off. your heart fluttered at the notion of watching a movie with seungcheol. maybe you could pretend just a little longer…

“what?” minjeong exclaimed. she was not happy with the current situation. 

“minnie, when he asked me if i wanted to watch a movie with him my heart fluttered. what’s wrong with me?” you cried, flopping against the couch, turning down the volume on speaker phone. seungcheol had left to get showered and changed. luckily, you didn’t have to help him much with that anymore. “you’re still in love with him, ___,” minjeong sighed. “i feared this would happen. you cannot let him get in your head! remember how he treated you before! just yesterday he wasn’t even speaking with you, he’s probably just manipulating you or something.” 

you couldn’t fathom him doing that. sure, he neglected you in your relationship, but he was never manipulative. “i don’t-” you began, but you were promptly cut off.

“you don’t get it, ___! you’re in a vulnerable state because you still love him and you’ve been waiting hand and foot to him, so he sees this as an opportunity to make something out of nothing.”

“if i love him, how is it nothing?”

“because you’re going to make it nothing. you can’t just let yourself fall back into his lap because he decided he wanted a movie night!”

“i don’t think it’s that easy.”

“you’re right, it’s not. that’s why you need to wrap up business there and get back to your life. your life where you can be free and meet whoever you want. where you don’t have to worry about the asshole who treated you like shit.”

“he didn’t treat me like shit.”

“he treated you like you barely even existed.”

you knew she wasn’t trying to be mean, but it did feel like she was opening an old wound. 

so much for that dinner you made. the time you wasted was eating at you as you picked through the remnants of your food. it was your first day off in a while and you hoped to spend some of it with your boyfriend before having to go back to work the next day.

 it was your bad to even think seungcheol would be home at the time he had said. you stared at seungcheol’s now cold meal. for the fifth time, you flipped your phone over to see what time it was. 11:47 pm and no word from him. you sighed and went to clear your plate. you wrapped up seungcheol’s meal and put it in the fridge. after all, he would be hungry when he got home. 

“hello? ___, are you still with me?” minjeong snapped you out of your thoughts.

“yeah, sorry,” you rushed out. “look, i think seungcheol is almost out of the shower. i’ve got to go. i’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“i’m sorry if i come off too cold.” she sounded like she was regretting what she said earlier. she knew how to read you like a book even if it was just over a phone call. “it’s alright. you’re my best friend, i know you wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt me. now, i have to go now, for real this time,” you chuckled and hung up after you said goodbye to her. 

you jumped a mile when you heard a clanking noise behind you. when you whipped around you saw seungcheol standing there, eyes wide, you felt something stir in your chest. he was leaning on a crutch with his leg wrapped in the bandages. he told dr. hwang that he wouldn’t wear the boot to bed. dr. hwang was reluctant but relented since the break was healing nicely and the boot wasn’t needed at night. his hair was damp, a plain white t-shirt clung to his body, and pajama pants hung loosely off his hips. something about this image looked so familiar, yet so distant.“sorry,” he mumbled leaning over to pick up the bowl he dropped, surprisingly it didn’t shatter on the hardwood floor. “no, wait, i’ll get it,” you said, pushing forward, frowning at the precarious nature of his stance. he straightened up and watched you pick up the bowl. “how long were you standing there? i could’ve helped,” you asked turning to go place the bowl in the sink.

“not long,” he rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes. “do you still want to watch a movie with me?” you nodded quietly and made your way to the couch. he followed behind and landed on the couch with a thud. “what do you want to watch?” you asked flipping the tv on.

“um, i’m not sure. i haven’t watched a lot of movies lately.” he shrugged. this was going to be harder than expected. instead of attempting to engage in this painful discussion, you opted to start scrolling through one of seungcheol’s million streaming apps. 

you scrolled through movie after movie with varying enthusiasm levels from seungcheol. “stop, let’s just watch this one,” he suddenly said. if you were being honest, you stopped paying attention to the movie titles a long time ago. so when you saw “the notebook” as the selected movie, your jaw slackened. “you want to watch this?” you asked, making sure he meant that. 

“i mean, i remembered when you showed me it, and i rewatched it recently. i really like it nowadays,” he said nonchalantly. you had shown him “the notebook” a long time ago. you had to beg him to watch it, and you remembered how he ended up crying by the conclusion. but now, it was strange to hear that he enjoyed the movie. not only that, but he remembered that you showed him the film. it was years ago, and he remembered. “okay, yeah, let’s watch it,” you said pressing play. 

you were getting major deja vu while you watched it. seungcheol was curled up next to you, and somehow you found yourself curled up next to him. this hardly happened when you were together, and it made your heart hurt that it was happening after you had broken up. was a car accident what you needed to be close to him? you didn’t need to think about it now, not when you could smell his shampoo and fabric softener. it was so familiar, but you knew you couldn’t get too comfortable. after all, you weren’t his anymore, and he wasn’t interested. yet, something was scratching at the back of your throat. an urge. a desire. a feeling you thought was better to push down.

 the movie was long over, but seungcheol had drifted off to sleep about twenty minutes before the movie ended. you didn’t have the heart to wake him, so you let him rest for a while before you lightly shook him awake. his eyes fluttered open and held your gaze with an expression you couldn’t pinpoint. “alright, sleeping beauty, time to get you into bed,” you smiled softly involuntarily running a hand through his hair. he seemingly leaned into your touch while looking around. “is the movie over? why didn’t you wake me?” he asked. you just shushed him quietly and helped him up. he held onto your shoulders and let you guide him to his bed. after a bit of work, you got him under the covers and on his pillow. when you moved to get up, his hand shot out and grasped your wrist. your neck whipped back at him. “what’s wrong?” you quizzed. 

“stay,” is all he said, eyes closing. 

you sighed. you couldn’t give in to him. you had set your boundaries, you were here to help that’s all. but, the longer you were with him, you realized the reasons why you hated him melted away within hours of being around him more. minjeong needed to be here to snap you out of it. “of course, he’s being nice to you now. don’t forget why you broke up in the first place,” she would’ve said. yet, she wasn’t here, and you were weak for him. as much as you would like to deny it, you knew you’d always crawl back to him. in this life and the next. 

there couldn’t be any harm in staying with him, right? it was just one night. he wouldn’t try anything. he wasn’t like that. he didn’t even feel that way for you anymore. he definitely didn’t seem too bothered when you gave in and slid under the covers with him. to your surprise when you started to situate yourself, you felt his arms wrap under your body and pull you to the opposite side of the bed. just like old times. he always insisted to sleep closest to the door. he had told you it was a win-win for the both of you. he could have the comfort of feeling like he was protecting you, and you got the nice view out of his window on the opposite side of the room. you assured him back then that you didn’t need protection, but you never fought with him to switch positions. 

you had grown used to his arm around your waist each night, and after you broke up you longed for his presence. you had cuddled your pillows and called minjeong. everything and anything to keep your mind off the empty space in your bed. so, now when you felt his arm wrap around you and his body pressed against yours, you froze. why did the thing you wanted for the past seven months cause you so much discomfort? being this close to him was like stepping into the salty waves at the beach with a cut you thought healed. your eyes began to sting, and you pleaded with your heart to not start shaking your body. you naturally moved closer to him when his grip became tighter around your waist, but your heart cried for the rest of the night.

when you woke up, you surprised yourself realizing you had a dreamless night. your chest hurt, but your eyes were dry. you turned over and noticed seungcheol’s side of the bed was empty. his boot was gone, so he must’ve put it on. you didn’t hear anything coming from the kitchen right outside the room, albeit his apartment was quite small and his living room was right there too. you slid on a hoodie and made your way out of his room to find where he went. maybe he was just as freaked out as you were, so maybe he just left to get some air. if you were him, you probably would’ve done to same. you wanted to kick yourself for falling into his lap again. maybe he regretted inviting you to stay, and now he was disgusted with himself for letting his ex sleep in the same bed as him again. your rational mind told you that wasn’t true. he wasn’t like that. yet, that’s what you told yourself when he show up late to numerous dates or just forget to message you. 

you heard quiet arguing as soon as you stepped out of his room. you looked down to the front door and saw seungcheol leaning against the doorframe. his body wedged between the door and doorframe, effectively blocking your view of who was there. you quietly shuffled forward, trying not to startle him. “i just don’t understand why you’re here?” seungcheol asked, almost sounding stern.

“i’m just dropping off some paperwork,” the person on the other side of the door said. the voice sounded familiar, but you couldn’t put your finger on it. “how’d you know where she was?” seungcheol grilled, sounding more frustrated with every passing second. 

“look, dude, i’m just here to drop off some stuff from work. minjeong told me,” the guy tried again to reason with seungcheol. you recognized seungcheol’s tone, he got like that whenever he was jealous, but you couldn’t fathom why he would be jealous. you looked past seungcheol and saw changkyun standing there with a case file in hand. “oh my god, seungcheol, stop it. this is changkyun from work,” you nudged seungcheol to the side trying not to surprise him, but you were still upset he was berating your work friend. 

“oh, hey, ___. minjeong sent me with these files. let me or minjeong know if you need anything else,” changkyun smiled at you. “i’ll let you go, you seem- um- preoccupied. but, we miss you at the office,” he glanced at seungcheol who was scowling at the ground. 

“yeah, sorry about that. thank you for bringing this around. this is super helpful. i was getting tired of reading pdfs,” you laughed. “i’ll see you later.” changkyun nodded and left without another word. you shut the door and brushed past seungcheol. you heard an audible huff behind you but ignored it. after you dropped off the case of files in the office, breakfast was seemingly the best option for you. 

seungcheol was already in the kitchen leaning against the fridge. it was highly inconvenient given you needed to get in there for some fruit. however, he wasn’t moving. “what are you doing?” you asked crossing your arms. he didn’t respond, just looking anywhere but at you. “what’s going on with you? what was with that attitude with changkyun?” you grilled, but you were only met with a scoff. now, that was weird. he sounded jealous, but there was nothing to be jealous of. “what’s wrong with you?” you frowned. 

“why does it matter?” he mocked. you squinted your eyes at him. compared to last night’s situation, this was an entirely different person. “why does it matter? it’s just weird that he’d show up here unannounced,” seungcheol shrugged. 

“he was here because minjeong sent him,” you stared him down.

“why couldn’t she come then? just seems like it’s a cover for him to see you. you didn’t tell me you were talking with someone else.”

“because i’m not talking to changkyun. i’m not talking to anyone. but, why does this matter so much to you? it’s not like he came in the house and started wrecking anything. he just dropped some stuff off.”

“we miss you at the office.”

“what?”

“that’s what he said.”

“i’m not following.” 

seungcheol sighed and pushed himself off the fridge and over to his chair, groaning and stretching his leg once he was sitting. “god, ___, don’t be blind. he’s obviously into you,” he laughed humorlessly. now you were even more confused. “so what if he is? i’m not,” you shrugged, opening the fridge to get your fruit and yogurt. 

“yeah, sure. whatever, that’s not the point,” seungcheol huffed again.

“then what is the point?” 

“that he tried to come here and flirt with you when i’m right here!” he finally snapped. “it’s embarrassing! he looked at me with all this pity when i opened the door. i don’t want his pity. then you come around the corner, and he’s smiling ear to ear.” seungcheol looked like he was about to cry. you wanted to say something, but all you could was look at him, confused. “you pity me too. everyone does!” he rambled. “it’s so humiliating. and, and, i’m sure that you’d be happier at the office where he is. he’s more handsome than i am, and i’m sure he’s smarter and kinder than me. you deserve to go out and just leave me here. you don’t even want to be here. i see the way you look at me. it’s not the same way i look at you, so i couldn’t possibly as you to stay. why don’t you just go date a guy like that? i’m sure he can treat you better than- than me.”

you stood there dumbfounded. your heart ached for seungcheol, but you couldn’t stop the boiling anger in your stomach. how could he possibly think so lowly of himself? did he not see how you were still so infatuated with him? did he not realize the reason why you hadn’t talked to anyone new was because of him? and for him to accuse you of pitying him, after all the care you put into helping him get better. to accuse you of not wanting to be there, with him. you wouldn’t haven’t been here if you didn’t care. you knew you cared too much for seungcheol, for someone who you knew didn’t even care about you. what made him any different from back when you were dating? 

“you’re so cruel,” you whispered, grabbing your food and heading to the office. 

there was radio silence for the next few hours. you would occasionally hear something, but seungcheol never knocked or tried to come in. the tip-toeing around each other was killing you. it felt awfully familiar to when seungcheol became distant from you before the two of you broke up. work was monotonous and nothing was holding your attention. all you could think about was what seungcheol said. you didn’t realize he felt that way about himself, or you for that matter. it hurt, and it hurt even more to wallow in it when he was right on the other side of the door. 

you couldn’t be the same person you were seven months ago. pushing down your concerns, hoping they would pass. they wouldn’t, you knew that, unless you talked to him. he would be getting better soon, and you could put this in the past. you could leave again once this was all over, never to look back. you couldn’t take another heartbreak because of him again. 

so your resolve broke and you pushed yourself out of the office chair and went to find seungcheol. 

he remembered the day you left like it was yesterday. he heard you gather some things from your room and left without another word. “yeah, i guess so,” he muttered to himself angrily. “you’re such an idiot,” he continued. he didn’t even understand why he said that to you. it was uncalled for, especially given you wanted to talk about your strained relationship. he knew he was distant, but he didn’t know what else to do. so, he pushed it down until he couldn’t take it anymore, well, until you couldn’t take it anymore. 

not having you around the apartment for the first few weeks felt like torture. he had drafted and re-written several messages to you and even considered calling, but he never pulled through with any of it. his mind was constantly unfocused on his work. the work he sacrificed everything for. the work he tried so hard to keep up to help you, help the both of you. he couldn’t bring himself to eat as much as he usually did, when the pit of his stomach was killing him from the inside out.

now that you were gone he constantly tried to take his mind off of you. he couldn’t let a breakup disorient him like this. he had broken up with other people before, but never like this. he couldn’t stop replaying everything that went wrong in his mind, everything he could’ve done to stop it. maybe if he put up a fight you would’ve stayed. but, he didn’t fight at all. he cowered at the suggestion of breaking up, and instead of facing it, he fled and accepted fate. waves of uncertainty lapped at his feet and eventually, the waters rose until it was unbearable. if you wanted to break up with him then that’s what would happen, no matter what ran through his mind and heart. 

no matter the fact he had a little velvet box in the bottom of his sock drawer. 

he was going to a party. he said he would buy alcohol, so he did. while he was driving he felt something shift within him. he thought about all the parties he had taken you to, and how all parties with you there were so much more bearable. all he could think about was how bored he would be. he loved his friends, but something was missing if you weren’t also there sharing a drink or discussion with him. yet, he let joshua convince him to come out. joshua had told him not to drown in any more work. joshua saw how the work was wearing down his friend, and he couldn’t take it anymore. so, seungcheol was going to a party he didn’t particularly want to attend, but he was getting there, even if he felt himself push the accelerator down more than he should.

but something stopped him from going to the party, and now he felt like he was floating above his body. he felt waves wash over him, and when they retreated he felt cold and vulnerable. he felt dazed and had a throbbing pain in his head, leg, and heart. he remembered the beating rain against his windshield and feeling the tires give out on him. he remembered your smile and your fingers running through his then-long hair. you told him everything was going to be alright, and he believed you. then, there was a rhythmic beeping next to him, some rustling by him, and your voice was gone. his head hurt too much, but he forced his eyes open.

in some sort of last-ditch effort of hope, he thought it could be you. you could be there fixing some magazines in the room or adjusting the blinds. yet, he opened his eyes and he didn’t see you there, just a nurse organizing some of the tubes next to him. seungcheol tried turning his head around, groaning. the nurse noticed and left to go get someone. maybe it could be you. no, that wouldn’t make sense. it couldn’t be you, and it wasn’t. it was his mother. she cried and asked him if he was alright. she asked where you were and what he was doing, but he didn’t have a good response to any of her questions. when she started to pry about you, he realized he had forgotten to mention the fact you were broken up. she had called soon after it ended because it was time for her to call her son, but he went into auto-pilot and told her you were fine, and he just never got around to telling her the truth. she loved you, and he knew that.

he definitely couldn’t do it then. it would break her, just like it broke him.

when he saw you standing at the door behind his mother, he wanted to burst into tears, but it would probably hurt his lung. besides, he didn’t need you to see how broken up about it he was. everything hurt, but it only hurt more when he saw you. you looked gorgeous, and your voice was like music to his ears. what if you had a boyfriend? the thought flashed through his mind. any person would be lucky to date you, but the idea caused his stomach to roll. 

your hair looked so pretty too, but your clothes looked like a mess. he hoped he didn’t cause you too much worry.  yet, he was worried now. his lie was going to be exposed. he saw the way you looked at him, helpless and injured. you wouldn’t spare him, not after what he did. his mom was talking to you just like everything was normal, but he saw the look on your face. you were confused and probably angry. he knew you, and he knew you would correct his mom as soon as you could. so when she backed away and went to get something from the closet, he couldn’t tell what you were thinking, and that scared him. 

the last thing he expected was for you to agree and help. he also expected you to correct his mother when she went on and on about how you were his girlfriend and how she knew how much you loved each other. he could sense your discomfort anytime he was around, so he made himself scarce and tried not to be a bother. what you were doing was already such a help to him, and he had no idea how he was ever going to repay you. 

he recalled when you pushed him around in his wheelchair at the supermarket, and all he wanted to do was disappear. it was his first visit to the store for a while, and there was something especially embarrassing about having your ex push you around the market, even if they didn’t know he had broken your heart. he didn’t know why he agreed to come. he would feel your hands brush past his shoulders as you would reach to grab something before dropping it in the shopping basket sitting in his lap. the tiny bit of contact from you had him going insane. he wanted to apologize for having you here, for his mom calling, for lying, for breaking your heart. he was scared, that if he opened his mouth, his heart would betray him and he’d say something that would make you run away again. but, he knew it wasn’t the time for that, so whenever your fingers graze his shoulder he swallowed whatever apology or confession (whichever came out first) down until it reached the bottom of his heart. 

you were wheeling him past the bakery and he saw the sweet milk bread he would always get as a treat on weekends. maybe you could share it again like you used to, but he doubted it. though, before he could process it, he was clearing his throat. you paused and he sensed you looking at him. “uh-,” he paused, coughing. “can, can we get the milk bread over there?” he asked. you looked around to where he was motioning. you saw it. he felt you pause. maybe he shouldn’t have asked. “it’s no big deal, actually. it was a dumb request. never-” he rambled but all of a sudden your hands brushed over his shoulders and you walked over to the table where the freshly baked bread was packaged. you inspected one and brought it back, placing it gently on the top of seungcheol’s basket. “do you need anything else?” you asked, quietly standing behind him again. he shook his head. 

for the first few weeks, it was awkward and humiliating. he couldn’t bear you at his beck and call. he could barely even talk to you, too embarrassed. he needed to get out of the wheelchair as soon as possible. he willed his body to heal faster, so then maybe the pain that festered in his chest would go away. one night, he woke up and he was parched. he had run out of water, he must’ve forgotten to get more before he went to bed. he also noticed his stomach was growling. he had refused to eat anything for dinner. once again, his bad. it reminded him of the time when he would come home late to a dark home. he was starving, but he knew you had eaten. you had long gone to bed, but he smelled the food you cooked. he looked in the fridge and saw his helping there. he sighed. he knew it was your day off that day, but he couldn’t seem to draw himself away from his work. got too distracted.

so, he needed water and food, but to get there he would have to get out of his room and into the kitchen. specifically, he needed to get past you on the couch without waking you. pushing himself out of bed, he reached for his crutches. he got them secured under his arms and made his way out of his open door. you had insisted on keeping it open, so you could hear him if he needed anything. but, he saw the way you walked into his room deflated, leaving his dinner on his bedside table, cleaning the barely touched food an hour later, and retreating to the couch to sleep after a presumably hard day at work. he wouldn’t be able to bear it if he woke you up now. 

he stepped as lightly as he could given his situation, but you were out like a light. he contained a chuckle seeing you all curled up on his couch. though, he did feel bad. the couch was no place to sleep for a long time. if only he could share his bed with you and not make it weird… he quietly ate a protein bar and got a glass of milk. he watched from the kitchen how smooth your breathing was. he frowned when you began to toss and turn. he wiped his mouth and moved over to you. after resting his crutches on the floor, he sat on the ottoman in from of the couch, closest to your head. he leaned forward and watched your troubled expression. sometimes he would press a kiss on your forehead, but that would be entirely inappropriate. yet, he couldn’t do anything while he watched this perfect person in front of him suffer.

so, his hand was reaching forward and caressing your cheek before he knew it. your skin felt amazing under his fingertips. he missed holding your hand, hugging you from behind, and kissing your lips. he wondered how he could’ve messed up this horribly. he felt your breath even out, and he noticed how your brow un-furrowed. gently pulling back his hand, he smiled and made his way back to his room. it was only then after he crossed the doorway, he realized what he had done. the clear boundary he had tried to maintain melted within those twenty minutes of him getting a midnight snack. he didn’t deserve the treatment he was getting from you. he wished you would yell and scream at him for what he did. resentment. he yearned for you to resent him, but no, you had to come and be the amazing person you were. he couldn’t let himself feel this close to you again.

but, he broke his promise. just like he always did. he invited you to sleep in his bed after a movie night he suggested. after offering, he realized he probably shouldn’t have offered the movie in the first place, but hindsight is 20-20. it felt too inappropriate, unspeakable even. especially, after he caught what minjeong was saying to you before you turned on the movie. he shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but minjeong was yelling on the other side of the phone and no matter how much you could turned down the volume, he still would’ve heard it. 

“he treated you like you barely even existed,” minjeong had said.

now, he didn’t want to believe that, but he knew it was true. working longer hours, barely seeing you, and coming home at odd hours of the night were all factors which were purely his fault. he could’ve requested time off, but he didn’t. it was his ambition that blinded him. the thought that if he worked hard enough now, he could be with you more later. but, he had forgotten he wasn’t the only person in the equation, and you only had so much patience. the patience he had wrongfully wasted. 

your back was turned to him. he didn’t know why it hurt so much given the situation. being face-to-face in bed would be too intimate. too dangerous. yet, that’s all he wanted. he longed to feel your body next to his, to know that what was once shared between you was still there. so, he took a risk. he reached forward and pressed his chest against your back, his arm wrapped securely around your waist. 

he waited and waited for you to pull away, and much to his surprise, you never did. you stayed in his arms like old times, but he knew it couldn’t be like that. he didn’t know if he could ever have you like this again. the recovery period of you taking care of him was painful on a multitude of levels. he was giving you space since he already felt like a burden, and it appeared to him like he was the plague. it was for the best, but he still wanted to hold you and kiss you to show his thanks. all he could do was say thank you and quietly retreat back into his mind. so, he held you like it was the last time, which it likely was, and he fell into a deeper, quieter sleep for the first time in weeks. the waves retreated and did not come back for the rest of the night. 

who was this guy standing at his door? why were you smiling so widely at this guy? why was this guy smiling so widely back at you? did he just sleep in the same bed with you when you had a boyfriend? so many questions, and so little patience left on his end. this guy was so handsome, with a sharp nose and intense eyes. he could see how you could go to someone like that, someone completely opposite of him. any hope of last night not being a one-off thing leaving his mind. the guy glanced over at him and gave him a look he was all too familiar with. the old ladies at the supermarket gave him this look. his mother gave him this look. even you sometimes. he was broken and mangled and people loved to look. so, to hide their nosiness, they concealed it with concern and pity. he hated that. sometimes you would do it, and he wanted to rip his hair out. he hated it when you would generate idle conversation or say his name like some sort of swear word. what ever happened to being your cheol? 

the doubt came flooding back into his mind, and he was lost in the sea of his own thoughts again. the waves were back, and he didn’t know how to keep them at bay. the tide was coming in stronger, and he could feel every brick he had built crumble under the pressure. when could this conversation be over?

he didn’t mean to lash out at you and your work friend. it was the waves. the waves that splashed into his face. the water that fell into his throat and choked him. he had to spit it out or it was going to drown him. every little thing he had hidden away came out. the confessions, insecurities, and everything else that held him back now and back then. he just needed to get it out before the waves came crashing in on him again when you would inevitably leave. 

“you’re so cruel,” you had said, and you were right. he was. how could he be so cruel to one of the only people who ever showed him unconditional kindness? it was over, and he knew it. 

all of his memories felt disjointed. almost as if someone had glued them together into a scrapbook. you were trying so hard to follow what he was telling you. the entire time he refused to look at you. his hands were clasped together, face flushed. “i suppose that was a long winded way to say i’m sorry,” he said finally looking at you for the first time. “i’m sorry for treating you so horribly when we were together, and even now. i’m sorry for standing you up and coming home drunk. you’re right, i am cruel, and i will never forgive myself for how i treated you,” he sighed, rubbing his eyes. 

you knew he had problems with anxiety and doubt, but you never thought it was this bad. you were mad at him, but you wished he had told you. told you about how he felt like he was drowning everywhere he went. “seungcheol, i-” you began but he cut you off.

“i understand if you want to leave. i can just have joshua take me to physical therapy and my appointments. i’ve asked you to stay for too long. it wasn’t right of me. if anything, i owe you so much. you shouldn’t have to be forced to be anywhere you don’t want to be,” he said. 

you stared at him. you had never seen him so defeated. when you came to talk to him, you didn’t expect him to be the one prepared with an apology. you just wanted to talk, but now that you began piecing together the things he told you. you realized how much he did care. he saw the food you made for him. he saw the effort you put in. for some reason, that just made you feel a little better. you always felt like he didn’t see you, but he did. this entire time. “what if i want to be here?” you asked, meeting his gaze. his eyes flickered between your eyes and your lips. “then, i would ask you to stay. i would promise to treat you the way you deserve. i would make every wrong i made right with you,” he confessed, moving closer to you on the couch. he reached forward and grabbed your hand. “i'm sorry for being such an asshole to you. i would apologize every second of every day.anything to get you to trust me again,” he continued. “anything so i can be yours.”

your heart felt full. it was healing. for some reason, you believed him. minjeong would probably yell at you for “falling for his trap,” but you had a feeling he was telling the truth, that he wasn’t going to mess it up again. “then, let’s start over,” you smiled, eyes welling up. he lifted a hand and gently wiped the tears that threatened to fall with his thumb. “gladly,” he smiled. you pulled your hand away from the one he was grasping at, and extended it to him. “i’m ___, nice to meet you,” you smiled. he grinned, glancing between your face and your outstretched hand. “nice to meet you too. i’m seungcheol,” he said clasping your hands together. he felt the waves were receding, and by the look on your face, you felt it too. 

you were out shopping for what felt like the fourth time this week. you just kept forgetting something on your list that honestly couldn’t wait until the next week. then your phone began to ring. you slid it out of your pocket and answered it. “what am i forgetting?” you asked as soon as the line connected. 

“nothing, i was just wondering if you could get some milk bread,” the voice on the other side of the phone asked. you laughed quietly to yourself. “what’s the occasion?” you joked.

“it’s the weekend, and i love you,” seungcheol said. you felt your heart soar. you sighed happily and made your way over to the milk bread. you were still on the line with him, and you could hear him humming. maybe now was the time you brought it up. “so, you want the same kind from the bakery, right?” you asked, stalling. 

“of course,” he scoffed. “the fresh ones from the bakery are obviously superior to the ones that one brand makes.” it was funny since he said it like it was obvious. you hummed and placed one of the loaves in your cart. “is there anything else?” you asked. you heard seungcheol shifting around. “nope, that should be all for me,” he replied. 

“everything i’m getting is for you,” you rolled your eyes. he chuckled. you continued to chat with him as you walked through the store, picking up a few leftover things. you decided it would be a good time to end the call when you got to the register, but not before you brought it up. “look, cheol, i’m at the register, so i’ll have to go,” you said, getting in line. 

“oh, okay, sounds good. i’ll see you at home?” he asked to confirm.

“yes, after i get back, though, can we talk about that red velvet box in your sock drawer?” you smirked. 

“yeah, sure of co- wait! how do you know about that?” seungcheol took a second to process what you had told him. he sounded frantic on the other side of the phone, and it made you laugh. “oh, looks like the line is moving, i’ve got to go! we’ll talk more when i get back, right?” you smiled.

“yes, for sure, yes! we will be talking because you weren’t supposed to see that!” seungcheol exclaimed. “see you soon, i love you, ___.”

“i love you too, cheol,” you replied easily. because, in this life, you loved him, and he loved you back.  

minli | sort of proofread! working on it… i think the plot makes sense… right… please say it does. this has sort of been my child for the past month or so… i actually used the max amount of pictures in this LOL ASLDKJ. please leave some feedback if you want :) likes, comments, and reblogs are always appreciated :)

tagging | @a-wandering-stay @cinnamoroxie @wonwoosthetic

[diorsluv]

casual , part 9

“ i have anger issues ”

series m. list previous chapter

( socialmedia!au )

yourusername

liked by jackhughes, edwards.73, and 154,238 others

yourusername hughes-a-palooza ⁉️

tagged: lhughes_06, jackhughes, _quinnhughes

view all comments

username58 WE NEED WEEKLY HUGHES A PALOOZA POSTS

→ yourusername idk about weekly bae..

→ username47 at least monthly please 😭😭 yourusername

colecaufield quinn?!?!?!

→ _quinnhughes oh god

→ yourusername LMFAOOO

→ trevorzegras more blackmail 😈

_quinnhughes mom didn’t let you and luke sit together on planes for a reason

→ yourusername i accidentally spill coffee on him once and then all of a sudden i’m banned from sitting next to him 😔

→ lhughes_06 it was not an accident.

→ yourusername YES IT WAS??

→ jackhughes rosie i watched you PICK THE CUP UP and pour it on his lap

→ yourusername I LIE ABOUT A TON OF SHIT BUT I NEVER DID THAT????

→ _quinnhughes wtf no she just separated you because you were annoying as hell

→ lhughes_06 oh

→ yourusername erm…

username32 STOP the toy story costumes are too adorable

username77 BABY QUINN

username91 omg i need to see all the baby photo albums right now

adamfantilli so when were you gonna tell me you’ve been cosplaying since you were 3

→ yourusername it’s called dressing up for halloween 😐😐

→ adamfantilli which is technically cosplaying

→ luca.fantilli bro why are you so obsessed with cosplaying

→ rutgermcgroarty do you have something you wanna tell us adam???

→ adamfantilli 🤐

→ g.brindley4 is that why i found a red and white wig in your closet the other day??

→ yourusername MY HERO COSPLAY?? 😭

→ markestapa todoroki cosplay is insane

vivianliu ADORABLE ADORABLEEE

→ yourusername 🫶

edwards.73 the costumes r cute

→ yourusername you seem super thrilled!!!!

→ edwards.73 cuz they’re cute but you’re cuter

→ yourusername oh 😨

→ markestapa this is quite public if i do say so myself

→ lhughes_06 🤢🤢

→ mackie.samo i actually threw up reading this

→ edwards.73 mackie you’re quite literally sick right now

username85 i want my kids to be like this

username13 jim n ellen got us with the good pics ‼️

_alexturcotte did you and jack always match costumes??

→ yourusername our mom switched it every year but jack was the best costume twin 😔😔

→ _quinnhughes okay our lorax and onceler costume was good though

→ yourusername …….no!

→ colecaufield who was the lorax???

→ yourusername take a wild guess 😑

→ _quinnhughes you lost rock paper scissors fair and square yourusername

username68 BABY HUGHES PICS ALERT 🚨🚨🚨

dylanduke25 i like how you and quinn NEVER have pics together

→ yourusername i have yet to find a picture of only us in an old photo

username49 WOODY AND JESSIE AHHH

rutgermcgroarty when will you post the pics of us 😔

→ yourusername rut sweetie they’re my BROTHERS i have to post them occasionally

→ yourusername and also i just posted us???

→ rutgermcgroarty you have an entire album of us.

→ yourusername i have one for vivi too and i barely post me and her 😰😰

→ rutgermcgroarty SIX. HUNDRED. PHOTOS.

→ mackie.samo 600????

→ rutgermcgroarty 694 to be exact 😒

→ markestapa SO BASICALLY 700?!?!?!?!

→ colecaufield what happened to the other boyfriend

→ dylanduke25 yk rosie if i didn’t know who your not-boyfriend is, i would think it was rut

→ rutgermcgroarty ..duker that’s not a good thing

→ dylanduke25 i know

username62 i will be dressing my children up in toy story costumes thank you.

markestapa i’ve never heard him scream in agony so loudly before

→ yourusername wait what??? what happened to him

→ markestapa you and your little “best friend”

→ yourusername WE’RE JUST BEST FRIENDS THO

→ rutgermcgroarty yeah that’s all there is

yourusername

liked by _alexturcotte, luca.fantilli, and 97,255 others

yourusername went on a cooking rampage tn 🫢

view all comments

edwards.73 that food looks pretty good im not gonna lie

→ yourusername yeah this random guy made it for me

→ edwards.73 random???

→ yourusername mhm it was so weird.. he had the key to my apartment and everything

→ edwards.73 man i think that’s pretty unsafe rosie

→ yourusername it’s okay tho i thought he was cute so i let him stay ☺️

→ edwards.73 oh 😳

luca.fantilli LET HER COOK 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

→ yourusername aaaaaand you’re blocked

→ markestapa LET HER COOK 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

→ rutgermcgroarty LET HER COOK 😝😝😝😝😝😝

→ dylanduke25 LET HER COOK 😈😈😈😈😈😈

→ mackie.samo LET HER COOK 😼😼😼😼😼😼

→ yourusername you’re all HORRIBLE

→ luca.fantilli 😘

→ markestapa 😘😘

→ rutgermcgroarty 😘😘😘

→ dylanduke25 😘😘😘😘

→ mackie.samo 😘😘😘😘😘

trevorzegras goddamn big back lemme have some

→ yourusername ⁉️⁉️⁉️

→ jackhughes u just got clipped bro

→ _quinnhughes 📸

username75 is that… HIM??

username90 bae stop actin like you don’t know we know it’s ethan

username23 AWW cooking date so cute

_alexturcotte oh are those brownies for me 😁

→ yourusername you n trev r always trying to steal my food bro 😒😒

→ _alexturcotte what can i say ur a good cook

→ yourusername U CALLED MY PASTA SHIT

username6 stop the plating is so gourmet

colecaufield you and luke’s gf are like the same person

→ yourusername LUKE??? GF???? WHENNNNN?????? lhughes_06

→ lhughes_06 thanks a lot cole

→ yourusername EXPLAIN

→ jackhughes you know her veeeeeery well

→ yourusername VIVIAN?!?!?!

→ vivianliu oh god no 😭😭

username44 cole’s stirring up the family drama

username19 damnn those cookies r looking good girl

→ yourusername i tried to perfect my recipe 😈

rutgermcgroarty name drop the guy rn

→ yourusername dude ur acting like ur the one in the pics 🙄🙄

→ rutgermcgroarty who said i wasnt

→ yourusername i did.

→ lhughes_06 is this supposed to be a tactic to confuse everyone

→ rutgermcgroarty we’ll never know 🤫

mackie.samo when was the last time you willingly ate pizza

→ yourusername tonight 😐

→ mackie.samo because he made you do it……… right??

→ yourusername NO he just wanted to do it so i did

adamfantilli wtf rosie i just looked at the boys gc and hes literally obsessed with you

→ yourusername um 😃

→ adamfantilli NOT LIKE THAT

→ adamfantilli but he’s just being a big pussy rn

→ yourusername that’s what they’re all saying 🙄🙄

→ edwards.73 DUDE you gotta stop leaking the gc convos

→ luca.fantilli fr it’s unacceptable

→ yourusername stfu luca u sent me screenshots like two days ago

→ rutgermcgroarty TRAITOR luca.fantilli

→ yourusername and u just gave me ur phone to scroll through rutgermcgroarty

→ mackie.samo as the spokesperson i’d like to say we’re kicking u all out

→ adamfantilli NO PLEASE

→ rutgermcgroarty WE’LL DO ANYTHING

→ luca.fantilli WAIT PLEASE FORGIVE US

_quinnhughes so as your older brother it’s my job to steal your food

→ yourusername 🫤

→ _quinnhughes and we’re playing the wings tomorrow so i will be stopping by and stealing half the stuff in your fridge

→ yourusername thanks for the warning asshole

→ _quinnhughes any time u little shit

→ jackhughes hey that was my nickname for her 😞

→ lhughes_06 i thought i was the little shit????

→ vivianliu how did you guys manage to go from posting each other to arguing over who was the little shit 😭😭

username7 forearms 😵‍💫😵‍💫

liked by yourusername

username30 get urself a man who will have cooking dates with u 🙌

lhughes_06 u make enough food to feed the entire family

→ yourusername mom taught me well 🤗

→ lhughes_06 but u literally never fed me when we lived together??

→ yourusername yes. i. did.

→ jackhughes lukey says u “NEVERRRR” fed him

→ yourusername HOW DO U THINK HE GOT SO FUCKING TALL

→ _quinnhughes mom and dads genes

→ yourusername bc i’ve been feeding him HALF of my food every time he walked into the damn room

→ yourusername SINCE WE WERE 14

→ jackhughes ur not wrong

→ yourusername no shit

username13 girlll im tryna cook like u

username9 cutiessss 💕

username27 babe ima need u to hard launch alreadyyy

vivianliu rosie.

→ yourusername vivi.

→ vivianliu i know you cook and bake when you’re stressed or anxious

→ yourusername whatttt no

→ vivianliu is it about him 🤨

→ yourusername no!

→ vivianliu mmmmmkay

notes ) she’s a bit of a short one BUT HERES TO THE STARS’ SATURDAY NIGHT WIN AND THE WIN FROM TN ‼️ the stress was fucking insane and my heart was BEATING but we did it 🙏 a celebratory chapter if you will

tags: @dancerbailey3 @hughesfein @loveforaugust @alwaysclassyeagle @love4ldr @inhoodmood @bunting58 @crazycat-ladys-blog @smoooore @bunbunbl0gs @lilasianmeat

[cuubism]

modern human au dreamling where dream and hob get married for "tax purposes" yup 100% that's definitely the only reason no other reason

dream is actually from generational wealth because of his weird family but he lives like a starving artist out of spite. hob is in academia so you already know. dream is like everything is so expensive we should live together to split expenses and maybe get married for Tax Benefits ("wow i am such a genius now i get hob to myself" one second later: "shit now i get hob to myself. perhaps this was a mistake")

hob, hopelessly in love with his friend: haha (panicking) sounds great dream (actually needs to save the money though) sure (panicking again)

dream: (i've made a mistake) great :) (dying inside)

dream, digging himself in deeper: we should get a one bedroom apartment To Save Money and also what if someone comes and figures out we're married for Tax Purposes

hob: who is going to come dream

dream: the tax.... police

hob: the who

dream: you know.

hob:

anyway so they get a one bedroom apartment and awkwardly share a bed while dying inside for like 5 years until one day hob runs into desire or something and desire is like why the fuck is dream sharing a shitty apartment with you? he could buy that whole building. and hob is like what. and desire is like we're rich dude.

so hob goes home and is like married for tax purposes dream? FOR TAX PURPOSES? you're literally rich, apparently!

dream, sweating: yeah and you know what rich people are really passionate about. PAYING LESS TAXES (nailed it)

hob is supremely unimpressed.

dream: anyway so i've technically been paying both our rent for five years and just stuck yours in my family's investment account to save it for you later do you want your fifty grand.

hob: my fucking WHAT

dream: it's actually worth like a hundred now

hob:

dream:...............courting gift?

[catchingdaydreams]

Modern day Mithrun Headcannons

Just some random ideas and perspective on how a modern au Mithrun would act/live and what not .

He would have his apartment spotless and minimalist as hell. Like everyone is to accommodate for one person. He doesn't really invite friends over but when he does their often confused about how theres just one of everything. A single chair, only one bowel and glass that he just uses ect, ect.

OR his room is just full of piles of trash bags and instant noodle cups because he can't be bothered to clean that shit up. The room is also bathed in darkness, curtains drawn down with the only source of light is through his TV and microwave clock.

He hates summer and winter. He gets sunburnt too often cause he can't be bothered to put sunscreen on. He doesn't like to cover up as an alternative as he justs overheats himself. In the Winter he would rather spend it hibernating if he could. The alternative is just becoming a blanket burrito and wait it out. He wears a lot of warm clothing too, often comedically too much, looking like a penguin on the way he waddles. This man will always get sick in winter.

His favorite season is autumn as it's the only season where it's not going to inconvenience him by either giving him sunburn, colds or hay fever.

He use to job hops quite a lot. Mostly working as chef at a local noodle shop that's near his apartment. Nothing wrong with the way he cooked, he just lacked most social skills which his blank tone and expressions upset both customers and other staff. He was a little stubborn but is a stickler for workplace hygiene and safety and would definitely tell people off for not doing something up to code. Even to the boss (instant way for getting fired).

Now he works at a high-end/fancy restaurant (probs has a michelin star ) wheres his nack for nick picking made him well respected for being precise.

Though he will not tell anyone where he works at. The Canaries will try to pester him (some *coff* *coff* Fleki and Lycion *coff* have tired staking but failed). He likes his privacy.

On days off he likes to be active and go hiking in the woods. He sometimes volunteers with the local nature parks for general upkeep and search and rescue.

But he doesn't do this alone. He WILL get lost. Kabur is a good hiking partner and also does volunteering. The Canaries are generally the go to personnel with supervising him. But he's generally in charge of operations which they bestowed him the nickname 'caption' to him.

He WILL get mistaken as an old man (yes he is technically old but I'm mean on deaths bed old). His white hair causes kids to point and look. He gets annoyed when a teenager asks him if he needs help crossing the street (especially if he's waddling like a penguin in Winter clothing). One time he was so annoyed by a kid calling him a grandma that he took out his prosthetic eye to make the kid cry.

Probs gets mistaken as a woman at times as well. He does have a feminine look about him. I imagine him coming home from a late shift and he gets catcalled by some bums. All he has to do is reply back in his low manly voice and they shut up . The times that they don't, Mithrun doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. He will throw the bums beaten and bruised bodies in the dumpster, it's where they belong of course.

Mithrun isn't a social butterfly. He likes to go to bed early then party and have a few drinks with his friends. Even when he does gets invited he'll hardly drink anything. He use to alot in his youth but his body isn't the same anymore and would just black out after a few drinks.

[itsnotgray]

gray’s fic recs

my tagging/recommendation system is a mess beyond the point of fixing, so i made a masterlist. (i’ll slowly be adding fics to this!)

- an asterisk is next to players who play for the ahl team of said nhl team

- if works focused on more than one person, they’re listed under the other people, but only tagged in the first one you see in the list.

- also, apologies if the links don’t work correctly, it is in fact my first time making a masterlist

NHL/AHL

Anaheim Ducks

Jamie Drysdale

hey roomie by @emaanemaa

- trevor and jamie threesome. that's right, that's all it took to get you to go read it.

Trevor Zegras

chameleon by @hischierhaze

- listen- if you're someone who, whether it be consciously or unconsciously, changes themselves and their personality for those around them, or you have a history of it- please read this. I promise you, you won't regret it.

now that we don't talk by @sc0tters

- it's a toxic relationship with trevor, of course I'm gonna eat it up (she might end with trevor... or she might not. you'll never know if you don't read it.)

hey roomie by @ emaanemaa (fic linked above under jamie)

the penalty box series by @starsandhughes

I- if you're not already keeping up with this series... where have you been? every update is laugh out loud hilarious, and leaves you itching for more.

cruel weather- apart of the penalty box series by @starsandhughes

cruel weather gets it's own link because of the amount of emotional damage this inflicted upon me.

Arizona Coyotes

Boston Bruins

Buffalo Sabres

Devon Levi

like it very much by @jackhues

there aren’t many devon fics (which there totally should be), but the way i squealed when i read this one. further affirmed the fact that i think he’d be the best bf.

Calgary Flames

Nikita Zadorov

that scar hurt by the way by @swissboyhisch

- listen…. i’m the farthest thing from a flames fan, and can wholeheartedly admit it was an adorable read.

Carolina Hurricanes

Chicago Blackhawks

Colorado Avalanche

Columbus Blue Jackets

Adam Fantilli

to you, my adamo by @hischierhaze

- it's adam's birthday + his debut, can you blame me for crying?

his return by @hischierhaze

-this made me cry. but in making this, i'm convinced anything kei writes with the fantilli brothers makes me want to cry from either just how sickeningly sweet it is, or of course, sadness.

tiny dancer au by @letsgetrowdy43

god when i say sunny and adam have my heart- i mean it. they’re sososo special to me.

Dallas Stars

Wyatt Johnston

our song by @lovinbarzal

hands down one of my favorite wy jo fics/au’s. it’s wyatt x a barzal sister, a pairing i wouldn’t have thought of, but works so well!

Detroit Red Wings

Edmonton Oilers

Florida Panthers

Matthew Tkachuk

waking up in vegas by @doc-pickles

- matty t x hughes!sister is a dynamic i didn’t know i needed.

Mackie Samoskevich*

perfect girl by @dmercer91

- this had me feeling things like no other... a big hint as to why? she's shared.

Los Angeles Kings

Alex Turcotte*

who does it better? by @harry-hollands

one of the cutest social media au’s in a while (technically has two parts, but they don’t have to be read together)

Minnesota Wild

Montreal Canadiens

Kirby Dach

here with you by @sc0tters

- it's amber's writing + kirby, what's not to love? (if that's not convincing enough, maybe the line, "I will follow you to the ends of the earth," is.)

Nashville Predators

New Jersey Devils

Jack Hughes

timeless by @babydollmarauders

- if I hadn't originally read this in the middle of the grocery store, I can almost guarantee that I would've cried from just how heartwarmingly adorable this is.

out by @babydollmarauders

- equipment manager x jacky boy- aka a trope I never knew I needed, but now crave after reading this.

ballad of a homeschooled girl by @babydollmarauders

- hands down one of the best pics I've probably ever read in terms of conveying emotion. my stomach was in knots the entire time, attesting to just how realistic the writing is.

never grow up by @aliaology

- i'm sorry but you're not human if you don't get even the tiniest bit emotional at any fic with "never grow up" as the song. BUT A FIC WITH THE BROTHERS? this rendered me emotionally unavailable for a solid 20 minutes.

medía management au by @babydollmarauders

the media management au is an ongoing series staring mr jack hughes and his lovely girl, dove! the updates always bring a a smile to my face, and more than likely make me laugh out loud.

4:41 am by @sweetestdesire

listen, as much as i adore brynn’s smut like no other, her fluffy, soft and sweet fics just do something to me. she writes them so detailed, and consistently has me craving for soft moments with a significant other (a significant other i do not have)

John Marino

stay for a while by @sc0tters

- when i talk about made me feel things, i mean it. amber never fails in writing panty-dropping smut, while also having an thought-out plot.

Luke Hughes

welcome back by @leaentries

- this literally made me swoon. a protective lukey- what's not to love?

nobody's love by @eyesthatroll

- my heart was in my throat while reading, and my emotions were all over the place. regardless of how emotional it left me, it was amazing and deserves all the love.

never grow up by @ aliaology (fic linked under jack)

- older hughes sister watches her brothers grow up + never grow up = tears

summer aches by @starry-hughes

- this fic makes me want a luke to take care of me when i get headaches, triggered by heat or not

what’s not to like? by @starry-hughes

- queen ellen and jimmy are a little apprehensive of you…

jack’s best friend by @lvrzegras

okay listen- any of the brothers x their best friends is great, but jack’s best friend x luke… it just hits different, yk?

Nico Hischier

I never could've seen you coming (I think you're everything I could've ever wanted) by @writingonleaves

- this is probably as close to a literary masterpiece as a fanfic posted on tumblr will ever get

will you take a moment? promise me this (that you'll stand by me forever) by @writingonleaves

- listen- it's apart of the universe she began in the fic above. I have the fic linked under nico (because the oc eventually ends up in a relationship with nico, as seen in the part above), but this is sososo found family heavy. if found family is your trope, then this is your fic

New York Islanders

Mat Barzal

it's nice to have a friend by @youunravelme

- put me through the emotional wringer in the best way possible.

winnie martin's favorite person by @ilyasorokinn

- god- i cannot even begin to describe how cute this is. all i can say, is that I need more pictures of barzy with kids... for science of course.

New York Rangers

Ottawa Senators

Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby

she was the (red) devil by @crosbyscurls

- hockey meets f1 is already a dream combination… but sid x f1? absolutely amazing

San Jose Sharks

Seattle Kraken

St Louis Blues

Tampa Bay Lightning

Toronto Maple Leafs

Vancouver Canucks

Quinn Hughes

these michigan summers by @lukevangelista

i feel like the only way your not aware this series exists, then your new here. because if you haven’t read this, where have you been? this is for sure one of my top three series’ on tumblr, finished or unfinished. will in fact, forever have my heart. (currently unfinished)

the sun to my moon by @ghostfacd

this fic is part of an au! i highly, highly recommend checking it out- quinny + a grumpyxsunshine trope, what’s not to love?

never grow up by @ aliaology (fic linked under jack's name)

- older hughes sister watches her brothers grow up + never grow up = tears

Vegas Golden Knights

Washington Capitals

Dylan Strome

it's never too late to come back to my side by @lukevangelista (a series)

- one of my recent favorites. particularly geared towards those who think back on old friendships (...and constantly overthink on whether you should reach out. spoilers- it's never too late)

Winnipeg Jets

NCAA

University of Michigan

Luca Fantilli

missing you, quietly by @bitchinbarzal

- emotional torture in the best way possible. i re-read a concerning amount

i lost him by @hischierhaze

- made me cry- but in a good way

baby 101- name reveal by @hischierhaze

- it's dad!luca... yeah that's right, now that you have that cute thought in your head, you kinda have to go and read it

I tell you that I think im falling back in love with you by @writingonleaves

- this fic is sososo special to me for so many reasons- and I think you should totally read this fic to figure them out... just saying

opposites attract au by @dmercer91

this is a link to the head anons for the au- but please go read this sweet au. luca and landen are one of the sweetest pairings.

Nick Moldenhauer

sundays are for textiles by @drewsbuzzcut

- super cute read, and it's apart of an even cuter au

all american lace by @drewsbuzzcut

- also apart of that super cute nick au she has- but this part was not so cutesy (it was at the end). had me on the edge of my seat, and tears building in my eyes. the type of angst you physically feel- but with the type of ending that makes up for it (trust me, it does!)

Mark Estapa

icy roads by @nicohischierz

the simplest explanation i can offer is that this broke my heart- but i loved it anyway!

Boston College

Gabe Perreault

princess!gf x gabe perreault by @yankstrash

- these two are on my mind at least three times a week. i aspire to become amelia- aka find someone who is as down bad for me as gabe is for “his meels”

[solargeist]

i keep mistaking some of ur kidxelqua art for ur grian art so i have to stop and read the captions/tags every time 😭😭 is there a fundamental difference im missing that would make it any easier

hi !!!!!!! no i understand it can be pretty confusing !! its pretty messy on my blog ahahah i'll try to explain them and their place in the AU

All the kid drawings are Xelqua ! Originally it was Grian, but as the character Xelqua developed, I changed it to him. When people send requests for kid Grian, i'm drawing Xelqua, as that is the AU.

This isn't 100% accurate as I forget to do it, but Grian and Xelqua part their hair differently, kid Xelqua does too. Xelqua's hair is always a bit longer. (Grian got a haircut when he joined the Watchers, thats why his hair parts different now in evoAU and HC, he just kept it shorter ! Xelqua used to wear his hair in a ponytail during his time with the Watchers.)

The reason why i say they're "technically the same" is bc Xelqua is just another Grian from a different timeline, he just has a different name. Xelqua only exists because this one Grian joined the Watchers, new possibilités opened new timelines, ones where he died, ones where he's a Listener instead, or ran away to different servers, or stayed. Xelqua is the only one to have reached Sainthood.

Because of this, Xelqua can hop around timelines, he usually just bugs other versions of himself, helping them, giving them tnt. He finds This Grian during s8 of HC, bugging him through the boatem void, briefly possessing him later, but hey ! water under the bridge !

Xelqua's timeline doesn't exist anymore after becoming That, but by becoming That he has essentially rewritten history in other timelines, solidifying himself as a saint of destruction, a destroyer, this is what the Watchers know him as, this is what evo Grian knew him as, even if Grian caused it--It already happened--Xelqua has always been here. (It makes Grian's head hurts when Xelqua explains this to him.)

Basically: Grian set off a chain reaction when he joined the Watchers, and that opened new universes, and in doing that, Xelqua is made.

Xelqua is powerful, but also very lonely and has a lot wrong with him, which is expected he spent many years with the Watchers. Xelqua can mimic any version of Grian he wants, but if he stays in that form for too long, he'll start to forget himself and instead think "Xelqua" is a patron, rather than himself. This is why kid Xelqua will usually praise the Saint Xelqua and be proud of his own name, he just doesn't know ! It takes a little while to remember himself and change back. This also happens in high stress, (bc of course it does, i love when a character loses control of their powers hahaha,) the memory is much worse if it happens from stress. You can't talk kid Xelqua out of this, it'll stress him out further and you'll just have a little god child throwing a temper tantrum then, never a good idea.

After s8 in HC EvoAU, Xelqua hangs around, popping up sometimes in s9, mostly in his adult watcher self. They don't get along too well at first, Xelqua has a little bit of bitterness over Grian having such a fun life, all these friends, needed, wanted..... But whatever ! Xisuma doesn't know how he keeps getting in, but Xelqua has been on good behaviour, so...... Shrug... Just let him visit sometimes....

Xelqua's version of the Watchers are gone, the unfortunate conséquences of becoming a destroyer, you kinda rip your own timeline apart. This, added with the fact that he is a cautionary tale in every other reality to Watchers, means if he tries to visit other versions of his Watcher family, they won't really know who he is, and just see something destructive and chaotic. If he wants to see Aether, he'll just... hop in a timeline and change himself into a kid and quickly forget what he's done. He's lonely, ok !!

Xelqua starts doing this kid bit on HC (late s9/early s10) too, he doesn't exactly mean to, but he does feel safe there. He eats Grian's food and takes over his couch and no one can get mad at him bc he is just a little kid--grian puts him in the corner. timeout. a few dead birds hit the roof as a result.

[mxltifxnd0m]

heaven knows ❥ i. lahey

summary: social media/ college au with the pack [can be read as a non supernatural au, but its implied]

pairings: established isaac lahey x reader, isaac lahey x fem! reader

warnings: none really, no use of 'y/n', fluff, slice of life, some cursing

a/n: made this instead of my homework bc i wanted to make a smau for isaac :) also emmyparker is an oc based on my friend loll

reblog and comment! i love to see your thoughts on my fics (even if this isn’t technically a fic lol)

𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘢𝘤 𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵

yourusername

liked by mccallmescott, emmyparker, and 2023 others

yourusername a lil photo dump of college so far ;P (not included: mental breakdowns)

tagged: kirakitsune, lyds.martin, silverallison, isaaclahey14 + 3 more

view all 823 comments

lyds.martin you wouldn't have the breakdowns if you didn't procrastinate ↳ yourusername you know what lydia stfu ↳ emmyparker @/yourusername shes not wrong ↳ yourusername WTH IS WITH THIS DOGPILING 😭😭

mccallmescott why do i have the feeling that your study sessions don't end up being study sessions ↳ yourusername what makes you think that scotty? ↳ kirakitsune @/mccallmescott they usually devolve into yap sessions ↳ silverallison SHHH kira!! they aren't supposed to know ↳ 24stiles is that why we aren't invited?? ↳ emmyparker that's a secret we'll never tell 🤫 xoxo gossip girl 😘 ↳ 24stiles 😐😑😐

* * *

lyds.martin

liked by stilesss, kirakitsune, and 1923 others

lyds.martin girls night in! 🥂

tagged: yourusername, emmyparker, silverallison, + 2 more

view all 1002 comments

yourusername wheres my pic creds 🤨 ↳ lyds.martin you're tagged, isn't that enough ↳ yourusername no 🥰 ↳ lyds.martin 🙄

24stiles i see my invite was lost in the mail ↳ emmyparker it can't be lost if it wasn't sent 😊 ↳ lyds.martin you weren't invited bc you aren't a girl, hence why it's called a girls night

silverallison we need to do this more often, it was so fun !! ↳ kirakitsune 100% agree, especially with finals kicking our asses rn 😭 ↳ lyds.martin heard, but @/yourusername has to host next time ↳ yourusername thanks for volunteering me lyds 🙃

* * *

24stiles

liked by yourusername, isaaclahey14, and 1120 others

24stiles boyz night 😤💪💯 (and theo is here too ig)

tagged: mccallmescott, isaaclahey14, liam.dunbar + 2 more

view all 782 comments

lyds.martin wow someone was bitter about us hanging out with out them ↳ 24stiles whatever do you mean? ↳ lyds.martin you're an idiot

yourusername i know damn well you didn't use my apartment as a fire hazard ↳ 24stiles ...its technically not just your apartment, it's isaac's... ↳ isaaclahey14 @/24stiles are you trying to get me killed?! ↳ yourusername @/24stiles @/isaaclahey14 stilinksi you're first on my list, lahey you'll be next ↳ 24stiles what about scott??? ↳ mccallmescott DUDE??

* * *

yourusername

liked by kirakitsune, silverallison, and 2009 others

yourusername love you wolf boy 🥰 🩵

tagged: isaaclahey14

view all 1014 comments

24stiles ew i didn't need to see this first thing in the morning ↳ yourusername you jealous i nabbed him in high school when you had the chance? ↳ 24stiles pffhh absolutely not, besides im in a happy relationship with em ↳ yourusername that's what you think :) ↳ 24stiles EM?? EXPLAIN NOW @/emmyparker

silverallison this is disgustingly cute ughh ↳ yourusername feel free to join us if you want ;) ↳ silverallison don't tempt a girl with a good time 😏

kirakitsune for research purposes, i need to know where isaac's shirt is from ↳ emmyparker same... for research purposes ↳ yourusername i sent you guys the link 🤭

isaaclahey14 love you lots babe ↳ yourusername love you more 🫶

* * *

isaaclahey14

liked by emmyparker, 24stiles, and 1923 others

isaaclahey14 love you sweetheart ❤️

tagged: yourusername

view all 863 comments

emmyparker wait are these candids of her actually good? ↳ issaclahey14 do you doubt my abilities? ↳ emmyparker yes 😁 also @/24stiles take notes ↳ 24stiles how do i keep getting attacked in posts that aren't even mine 😭

silverallison @/isaaclahey14 im gonna steal your girl ↳ isaaclahey i'd like to see you try ↳ yourusername guys noo don't fight over me (please do it does wonders for my ego) ↳ silverallison nevermind you can keep her

yourusername this is actually so cute, love you so much honey <33 ↳ isaaclahey14 i swear you always underestimate me ↳ yourusername aren’t you forgetting something 🤨 ↳ isaaclahey14 i love you too ❤️

[meamiiikiii]

a star being appeared in your apartment, wdyd?

(aka loop getting reverse isekaied into the modern office au)

also there are some scattered mumblings on loop in this AU under the cut if anyone's interested (spoilers for all of ISAT, including 2hats!)

vvv

TLDR - The Universe keeps fucking with Loop and they are not really happy about it, regardless of timing.

While I haven't decided anything 100% concrete for Loop, the idea of a reverse isekaied Loop in general is interesting to me, so I'll be exploring that a bit here. Especially in terms of timing on when Loop gets taken out of their timeline. At least in terms of immediate outlook within this AU. So, for now, have a couple of those thoughts! 

---

The two main points in time I am currently considering are the following:

1. From when they gave up their original wish and made a new one.

In this instance, I feel like their arc would play a bit similar to in game

Seeing this new world as different & peaceful

Since they don’t have to deal with the loops anymore, just watch whatever happens.

Be a lil silly for funsies! The chaos that can ensue with a star being existing within a modern world! 

Even though it hurts to see Siffrin’s team hanging around, they really don’t have anywhere to go at the moment (hard to hide a star being in this type of world)

To a slow realization of how unfair this whole situation is. In comparison to all of the horrors they went through, this Siffrin has it so easy.

This Siffrin gets to live an idyllic life, free from the world calamity of being frozen & the literal time loop.

This Siffrin gets to freely hang around their family team, with no foreseeable "end" to being with them in sight.

This Siffrin had their original wish, the wish Loop wanted granted, handed to them on a silver platter. 

This Siffrin, nor anyone in this world, would ever be able to come close to understanding what Loop went through; Loop would never truly be seen in this world, not fully anyway.

What does The Universe have against them, to put them into this world and make them witness all of this?

It should have been them, with this carefree type of life, given all they went through.

2. AFTER the fight with Siffrin.

This leans a bit more lighthearted than the last, since Loop would have gone through all the development from the game via convos + the talk at the very end with Siffrin, and has a bit more peace about their whole deal.

Perhaps they would still see the same conclusions as above, since healing from the horrors would not happen all at once, if ever, with additional flavor

Underlying bitterness in why the script is still going. 

Why is The Universe asking for them to continue into a new world and role?

Haven’t they had enough, once making them witness another Siffrin’s loops and perfect ending, and now a completely idyllic Siffrin’s life from the get go?

However, there is also a bit of hope in the entire situation. Since if The Universe keeps deciding to fuck with them (as in, sending them to different world lines) there is still, technically, the chance of going backward as well.

To their original timeline and to their family.

Once could have been a one-off, but twice?

Perhaps three world jumps might be the minimum to go back, following standard wishing rituals?

More hope in this one from the get-go, with that thought in mind.

---

Though there are probably other points in time that would be interesting too! 

Another one I was considering was RIGHT BEFORE the fight with Siffrin, perhaps even mid-fight. However, I don't think that makes much sense for this particular AU ASAFASFASDAS. Can you imagine if Loop just spawned into this world, doesn't realize this is a completely different Siffrin, and attacks on sight?????

Honestly the idea of a reverse-isekaied Loop into different AU's in general is neat, would love to see other people's takes on it!!  Especially cuz of the various reactions/conclusions Loop could have/make based on the scenario/circumstances would be interesting, if that makes sense. At least I think there is something in that thought? I dunno!

I feel like I am missing some characterization bits in here, but that was the main gist of it for now since I cannot remember LMAO.

Mumblings over, thanks for reading my silly thoughts if you got this far!!!

[batsbirdsandspeedstersohmy]

Some thoughts I have on cute story line/au

Wally and dick are dating took them forever to actually admit they got feeling for each other even if everyone else alrighty knew.

Wally is the flash berry is still alive and the flash. They kind of both are at the same time. No it's not confusing unless your arent from key stone or central city. If your from bludhaven you are to scared to ask due to seeing Nightwing and flash kissing. If your from anywhere else then you are probably confused.

Bruce gets lost in the time line

Dick unfortunately has to take up the mantle of Batman

Wally doesn't like that but support his boyfriend in any and everyway he can.

Dick moved back into the manner makes Damian Robin and works closely with him. Wally just about spends every night there even if he isn't living there technically. Since his name is on their old apartment and they don't fully want to lose it yet.

Dick and Damian become close. And thus Wally and Damian become close.

Damian starts seeing them as his parents. Calling them dad in different languages they don't know

Dick has an idea of what's Damian is doing. He knows his Damian even if they don't say it. Dick and wally refers to Damian as their kid.

Wally and Dick go to all meet the parents and Damian art shows and just every and anything they can. Damian will not say it but he is glad to have them there. He gets so upset if anything wrong happens cause he doesn't want them to think he not good enough anymore.

Wally and Dick get engaged Damian knew it was happening. He when with Dick to help pick out the rings. Well he when with Dick to help look at rings and get an idea of style. then waited as Wayne enterprises made something that would work for a speedster. He also inspected the ring very closely to make sure the people who made it didn't mess up.

Bruce comes back

Damian thinks he has to go back with Bruce and Wally and Dick won't want him anymore. Bruce of course thinks he is entitled to Damian. Wally and Dick are heart broken but think its best if Damian stays with Bruce.

Everyone but Bruce cry

Bruce is a bad parent and doesn't see Damian as anything but the killing machine he was trian to be and how he was right when he was dropping off at Bruce door step a few years ago.

Damian is the ring bearer for the wedding of course and hoes with them on wedding planning.

Alfred hates how Bruce is not showing love and how excited Damian is when Dick and wally come over. And how sad he gets as soon as they leave.

Alfred prints out adoption paperwork for what feels like the millionth time and instead of giving to Bruce puts in Dick pile of papers.

Wally and Dick almost cry when they find it and fill out what is their part. They take Damian out for ice cream. And ask Damian if he wants to be with them. Damian of course says yes and how their his dads and please don't leave him again.

They go back and start packing up stuff and go to the bat cave to get Bruce to sign the papers.

Bruce says no he will not and that they baby Damian and he needs to be watched carefully. Dick and Wally are going to get killed if they trust Damian so easily. And he will not let them take him.

Dick and wally are so upset dick gets mad. And yells at Bruce about how he been gone and Damian been hurt so much by him. Wally ends up being like Bruce you have 3 days otherwise we are taking this to court and taking our child back the hard way.

Damian doesnt understand why he can't go with them now. Wally unfortunately understands that it looks worse if they kidnap Damian by taking him now. They promised it only going to be a little bit and they get him very soon.

Damian spends the next three days packing up everything when he not busy. Alfred brings him boxes. Bruce tried to unpack things saying he not going anywhere. Alfred starts moving the boxes to a safe space that Bruce can't get to. But isn't Dick and Wally's place.

Bruce doesn't sign the papers

They go to court Dick and Wally get a lawyer for themselves and one for Damian. Bruce says it stupid for Damian to have his own one. And it's actually Dick and wally having two.

The judge ends up picking Damian a new lawyer and whoever wins have to pay for Damian's.

A lot of Damian's teachers are called in. Damian art teacher is one of the ones who help a lot. She brings up a project about their family tree and how Bruce and Talia are on there. But also Wally and Dick are on it. And Damian has put himself under them but arrows to Bruce and Talia with blood parents.

Talia ends up showing up. Which no one really knows how she knew what was happening. She says wants her son with Bruce that's why she drop him off at his place. (To train with the Batman)

I need to go to bed about 40 minute ago I'll come back and finish my thoughts

[derangedanomaly]

Guyyss, y'all have no idea how happy I actually am to know that y'all like my AU of Nightmare having a clone. I haven't felt this hyper in forever! I also REALLY enjoy doing anything about my favorite boy Chaos, so I decided to write some interesting Facts about my AU!

Enjoy lmao

Masterlist

CHAOS FACTS

His design differences between Nightmare:

I don't know if anyone's noticed, but I draw Nightmares tentacles purposely more flowy and droopy than Chaos'.

Chaos almost always has his tentacles lowered down, because he doesn't want to accidentally hurt anyone, but the only time he always has them up, is when he's near Nightmare, to look bigger and assert dominance.

Chaos' tentacles sometimes makes him look like he has horns.

While Nightmare feeds off of negative feelings, Chaos feeds off of Nightmares misery. SPECIFICALLY Nightmares. And whenever he does feed off of his misery, a purple smoke surrounds him.

When Diana accidentally copied Nightmares code, she wanted to use the delete button. She was afraid of what two Nightmares could do to the multiverse. But her worries flew out the window when she saw how friendly Chaos is, apart from Nightmare.

You could almost say that Chaos could be a better villain than Nightmare, because Chaos is willing to actually do anything just to earn someone's trust. And he could take advantage of that too, but thanks to Diana's code, he won't do that.

Chaos is practically the only worst punishment that Nightmare could receive, because the only one that can get on Nightmares nerves, is himself.

Chaos doesn't have a passive form, because he's only the copy of Nightmares code. Meaning he probably doesn't even know who Passive is.

The only reason he wants to ruin Nightmares reputation so much, is solely because he gets a kick out of it. It's also strangely written in his code- Diana thought it would be funny and entertaining to see two Nightmares fighting each other.

Nightmare could engage in a pretty violent battle with Chaos if he truly got pissed off- but he doesn't do that, only because Chaos is practically him. Chaos is pretty much on the same level of power as Nightmare. Which probably makes him the only appropriate opponent to Nightmare.

Killer often call NM and Chaos "twins". This earns an amused chuckle from Chaos and an angry Nightmare.

Chaos is partly supposed to represent how fanon Nightmare sometimes acts, apart from the canon one.

Chaos doesn't have a soul, since he technically doesn't exist, his whole body is made off of copies of Nightmares code, this doesn't include his soul.

The only people who know about Diana's existence are Ink, Error and Chaos. Diana doesn't feel the need to show herself to anyone often, so she just doesn't do it.

Ink and Diana are actually pretty good friends, though Diana denies any sort of friendship between the two.

Diana, Ink and Error, are like the three horseman of creation. Error is the destruction, Ink is the creation, and Diana is the rebirth. (Since Diana can copy anyone's code, she can technically bring out the dead. But this of course also has consequences.)

Diana's belt has eyes that follow whoever she's talking to.

Diana is supposed to represent a higher intelligent form. That's why she wears more 'angelic-like' clothes.

Chaos views Diana like his mother.

I'm sorry If these facts don't interest you! I just fell in love with my own Au 😭

[snugglyducklingbrewhouse]

we play with fire because we like the way it burns

a mob boss!nico x nurse!fem!reader au

I know this bar

Masterlist

Warnings: this is a mob au, bar, alcohol, underage drinking (Luke specifically and technically reader if her and Luke were in the same orientation group for college), a few swear words/name calling, Jack being bullied, a bet, Luke being bullied, mentions of past relationship trauma but no specifics, I think that’s it

Word count: 2.35k

A/n: I know the poll resulted in me without us, but I had this ready and writers block is kicking my butt. I also really wanted to get something out there after going awol. This is set before Luke, Lilly, and the tree. This is the bar referenced in that installment. I spent forever on this. I wanted to build the world of this au so I added more details. Enjoy!

“Are you sure it’s okay I go to the bar tonight?” You asked for what felt like the hundredth time to Luke.

He rolled his eyes. “Yes. Nico specifically asked me if you would like to come tonight.”

That was the first of you hearing that. Your eyes lit up, but you stayed still, adjusting your clothes and accessories. “Oh? He did?”

You hoped that you didn’t sound as excited as you really were.

Luke gave you a smirk. “And by the way you’re acting, I’d say you’re excited to see him.”

Your cheeks flushed as you turned around and shoved Luke playfully. “Shut up!”

“When will you just admit that you like him?” Luke was annoyed with how much you were acting like a lovesick teenager when he knew Nico felt the same way.

But Nico didn’t know that Luke knew. Jack got a little too drunk at his shared apartment with Luke and let it slip, but Luke made sure not to say that you felt the same way.

“How about when swine take to the sky?” You quipped back, knowing it would take Luke a second to figure that one out.

“Seriously?” He sassed once it clicked in his mind. “Just tell him! Or at least offer him your number. I don’t know how he still doesn’t have it.”

“So I can just be another notch in his belt? No thanks.” You deflected and looked to the floor.

Luke’s face dropped into a gentler expression. “I know the stories, but he is not this renowned player. In the year I’ve been here, I haven’t seen him take a girl home or go home with one. I obviously am not as close to him as Jack, but he does have a softer side. I just haven’t seen more than a glimpse or two.”

You looked up at your best friend with sad eyes. “I’m just a nurse. A nobody. Why would he ever go for someone like me?”

Luke sighed, wishing you could see yourself the way others do. “You are one of the most selfless people I have ever met. I mean, you basically offered to be a nurse for the mob. The mob! You have a heart of gold, and if he doesn’t see it, then someone will come around who will. But I’m telling you, shoot your shot.”

As he was talking, you looked down again and tried not to cry. You knew your self talk could be more positive, but it takes time. And after your bad luck with men in the past, you just were scared of getting hurt again.

“You say I have a heart of gold, but then why do people always leave?” You asked, sick of people leaving you when something new and shiny comes along.

Luke felt his heart breaking. He witnessed your bad past with men through college, and he wished he could do more to help.

You became his best friend and the sister he never had. As much as he definitely intimidated some guys that wanted to ask you out back in school, he knew you deserved the world. And he really hoped that could be Nico despite his reputation and job.

————————————————————————

As you walked into the bar, you felt your nerves reach an all time high. Sure, you’ve met Nico and Jack before, but you were meeting the majority of the mob. You knew that the bar was their official spot and it was mostly just members and their partners who frequented the place.

You felt like an outsider, but it only got worse as you got closer and Luke opened the door.

“You’ll be fine,” Luke said quietly as he held the door open for you and you walked past him.

You appreciated his words, but as soon as you stepped inside, you felt out of place.

Sure, Luke had said you looked perfectly fine, but that didn’t matter once you got inside.

You didn’t know what to do, so you just did your best to keep it low key and follow Luke’s lead.

Someone was already approaching the two of you, and you felt the panic rise.

“Hey Luke, is this her?”

“Yes, this is y/n, my best friend and our new nurse,” Luke introduced you.

“It’s not official,” you corrected.

“It might as well be,” Luke said. “You patched me up and looked at Jack’s hands the other day.”

“Anyway,” you said, subtly gesturing to Luke that you still didn’t know who you were talking to.

“And this is Dawson, definitely one of the friendlier faces around here,” Luke finally introduced the man in front of you.

You definitely agreed with that. While he was attractive, your heart wanted one man at the moment.

“I don’t know whether to be flattered or offended,” Dawson said, then took a sip of his beer. “Don’t just leave her standing here, get her a drink.”

“Let’s go,” Luke said, dragging you to the bar top.

“Nice meeting you,” you said as you walked away. You couldn’t help but be over polite because of your nerves.

Once you arrived at the bar with Luke, he ordered for the both of you. “Whiskey, neat. And a bubblegum cosmotini spritzer.”

The bartender whisked away. And made your drinks.

“Did you seriously order us those drinks?” You asked Luke, knowing he usually went for neither of those.

“Trust me,” he said.

“The last time you said that, I ended up needing stitches,” you reminded him.

“And you have a badass scar because of it,” he tried to lighten the conversation.

Before you could respond, the drinks were placed in front of you.

“One bubblegum cosmotini spritzer for the lady, and a whiskey neat for the gentleman,” the bartender said.

You just looked at Luke, waiting to see what he would say.

Before either of you could say anything, the bartender cracked a smile and said, “I’m just fucking with you, Luke.”

She carefully swapped the glasses around.

“Well played,” you said. “He absolutely does not like whiskey.”

“Oh, I know. Jack made him have it this one time, and Luke’s face was priceless,” she explained.

“The same thing happened in college but with someone else. It was great,” you said.

Luke was annoyed. “Are you two done?”

“Yes,” you said with a smile. “Wishing you had a different drink yet?”

Luke downed his drink. “I’m about to get something else.”

“Oh, I’m y/n, btw,” you said to the bartender.

“Luke’s best friend from college, right?” She asked.

You nodded. “Yeah.”

“He’s definitely whined about wishing you were here more than a few times,” the bartender said, continuing to frustrate Luke.

“I’m taking her away from here,” he said. “You two are mean.”

“You know I love you, Lukey,” you said, not wanting to stop messing with him.

The bartender smiled at the nickname since no one ever calls him that before being pulled to another patron.

“I regret bringing you here,” he grumbled.

“I told you, I would have been fine at home,” you said, despite actually enjoying yourself.

You both turned so your backs were against the bar top, and you scanned the crowd.

“Looking for someone?” Luke asked, knowing damn well you were looking for Nico.

“I’m just observing the crowd,” you claimed, lying through your teeth.

“Okay, sure,” Luke played along. “There’s more people to meet.”

And so, it began. Luke introduced you to pretty much everyone, just to make sure you felt comfortable around them.

It was clear as day to you that these people were a second family to Luke. And you knew your friendship was closer to one between siblings than just friends. So, you felt honored that he was willing to share this part of his life with you.

————————————————————————

At some point, Nico joined the crowd and was talking to Jack while overlooking the bar.

“Looking for someone?” Jack asked, knowing that Nico was definitely looking for you.

Luke had told Jack that you were finally ready to meet the rest of the family. Jack knew he had to keep pushing his boss’s buttons to get him to make a move.

“Just people watching,” Nico replied before taking a sip of his drink.

Jack knew that that was a partial lie, but let it slide.

Suddenly, you and one of the partners were hysterically laughing to the point where most people stopped and turned towards you, even for just a brief moment.

This intrigued Nico, and he definitely wanted to hear your laugh again.

After the laughter died down, Jack spoke up. “Are you sure you’re just people watching? Or are you really watching her?”

Nico sighed, sick of Jack’s shit. “Will you drop it?”

“Not until you make a move,” Jack said, determined to get the two of you together. “At least give her your number. It’s about damn time you manned up and gave it to her.”

Nico took another sip. “I’ll think about it.”

“Mmm hmmm,” Jack hummed, not believing his boss. “Well you better move quick, this is the third time Dawson is talking to her tonight.”

Part of what made Jack such a great second in command was his observant nature. Although, he could be clueless at times. But he knew you well enough and definitely knew the rest of the mob.

Nico clenched his jaw.

He should have known. Dawson could be such a flirt.

Maybe Nico really did need to make a move, and fast.

————————————————————————

If your heart wasn’t set on someone already, you might have thought Dawson was cute, and you might have flirted back.

But your heart belonged to someone else, despite how much you denied it to Luke. And yourself, but you had to fess up eventually.

You already noticed when Nico joined the crowd from his office Luke told you was in the back of the bar. That didn’t mean you had to go talk to him right away. The plan was to keep it low key and hope either the feelings either disappeared or he acted before you had to.

You tried really hard to focus on what Dawson was saying, you really did. But the second Nico arrived, your senses heightened and you became hyper aware of yourself.

“You’re not listening, are you?” Dawson said, finally getting your attention.

“Huh? Sorry. There’s too much noise,” you said, trying to cover for yourself.

“Ignore him,” Luke said. “His whole this is that he craves attention.”

“Hey!” Dawson was offended.

“I have to take her to talk to the boss anyway. They didn’t exactly get to know each other when she patched me up,” Luke explained, guiding you to the one man you dreaded facing because you knew you’d be about as awkward as Princess Ana meeting Hans for the first time.

————————————————————————

Jack nearly choked on his drink when he saw you and Luke walk towards him and Nico.

Nico, on the other hand, took a long sip of his drink to attempt to calm him as you walked over.

“Hey boss, Jack,” Luke said once the two of you arrived in front of Nico and Jack.

Jack nodded and uttered a “hello,” but took another sip of his drink.

Before Luke could say anything, you decided to jump in.

“We never actually officially met,” you said. “I was a little too busy patching up this guy. I’m y/n, which I know you know. But still. Nice to officially meet you.”

“Likewise,” Nico said. “Having a good night so far?”

You were caught off guard, not expecting him to ask that.

“Uh, yeah,” you said, once you recovered. “It’s nice to finally meet everyone. It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m managing.”

“I told you I could take you back home at any point,” Luke reminded you. “You don’t have to stay.”

“It’s okay,” you tried insisting. “You’re having fun. Everyone is having fun. I don’t want to step on any toes. I can just catch an Uber back or something.”

“If you want Luke to stay, I can always take you home,” Nico spoke up.

Both your and Luke’s heads whipped towards Nico. Even Jack looked shocked.

“You don’t have to,” you quickly responded. “I don’t want to impose.”

“I see these guys all the time,” he said. “This was my only drink.”

“Are you sure?” You asked, the nerves setting in more. “Like I said, I can just Uber back. I don’t wanna bother you.”

“It’s okay,” Nico insisted. “Gives us a chance to talk without these two.” He gestured towards Jack and Luke.

You hoped your cheeks didn’t flush as you spoke up. “If you insist.”

“I just need to grab my keys in back,” he said, going to go grab them.

Once he was out of earshot, Luke spoke up first. “What the fuck was that?”

“I don’t know, but you owe me $20,” Jack said.

“You bet on me?” You asked, insulted by Jack.

“Sorta?” Jack said, but it sounded more like a question.

“He bet Nico would make the first move, and I said you’d shut it down and push him away until you felt comfortable enough and finally made a move yourself,” Luke explained.

You couldn’t help but smile at Luke. “I’m glad my best friend knows me well enough to bet on that.”

You then turned to Jack.

“You, on the other hand, are an idiot,” you said.

“What did I do?” Jack said.

“What didn’t you do?” Nico spoke up as he finally rejoined the conversation. “What did I miss?”

“Jack being an idiot, so not much” you said while Jack yelled a “hey” at you.

“Love you too, dumbass.”

“You’re lucky you’re Luke’s best friend,” Jack mumbled.

“I’ll message you when I make it back to mine,” you told Luke. “I will see you in a few days for movie night. Do not drink too much.”

“One more after this, then it’s water,” Luke promised you. “Drive safe.”

You hugged him then followed Nico out the door towards his car.

You just hoped you could make it through the car ride without embarrassing yourself.